If I 



EXPOSE OF POLYGAMY IN UTAH. 



A LADY'S LIFE 

AMONG THE MORMONS. 

A RECORD 

OF 

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE 

AS ONE OF THE WIVES OF A MORMON ELDER 

DURING A PERIOD OF MORE THAN TWENTY YEARS, 



BY 

Mrs. T. B. H. STENHOUSE, 

OF SALT LAKE CITY. 



ILLUSTRATED BY H. L. STEPHE 




NEW-YORK 

AMERICAN NEWS COMPANY, 119 NASSAU STREET. 

1872. 



ALL BIGHT OF TRANSLATION RESERVED 



lor co*o****| ^a*) 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 18T2, by 

Mrs. T. B. H. STENHOU3E, 
in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



8. W. Green, Printer, 18 and 18 Jacob Street, New-York. 



" Have ye not read, that He which made them at the beginning 
made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man 
leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife : and they twain 
shall be one flesh ?" — Matthew 19 : 4-5. 

" There shall not any man among you have save it be one wife ; and 
concubines he shall have none" — Book of Mormon, p. 118. 

u Thou shalt love thy wife with all thy heart, and shalt cleave unto 
her and none else." — Book of Covenants, p. 124. 



TO THE READER. 



» ♦ 4 

In presenting this little volume to the public, I trust I may 
be excused if I give utterance to a few words by way of pre- 
face. This I think especially needful, as very probably 
what I have written will fall into the hands of many who are 
but imperfectly acquainted with Mormon doctrines and Mor- 
mon practice, and who would thus be at a loss to understand 
much of my story. It is only right that I should explain, 
among other things — what may appear strange to the reader — 
that is, the poverty and privations which we endured for so 
many years. It must be fully understood that this poverty was 
entirely voluntary. My husband and myself were both zea- 
lously devoted to the faith, and when called to missionary 
labour, we obeyed. We were not only willing to sacrifice 
cheerfully all the pleasures and comforts of life for the sake of 
our religion, but we did so, and rejoiced that we were counted 
worthy to suffer. 

Again, I must here state that, although I am necessarily com- 
pelled to speak of many circumstances of a personal nature, I 
have studiously avoided all mention of names or details which 
might reasonably give the least pain to any of my former 
friends and acquaintances. Even in the case of Brigham 
Young and his family, with whom I have been on terms of the 
most intimate acquaintance, although I felt myself at liberty to 
speak more freely of him as a public man, I have in no instance 
betrayed the confidence which any of his wives or members of 
his household have placed in me. This statement I am assur- 
ed they will willingly confirm. 

The following pages are simply what they pretend to be : 
" What I know about Polygamy and in order to set the 
whole matter plainly before the reader, I have given a brief ac- 



TO THE READER. 



/count of my own personal experience — what I myself felt, what 
I saw and knew. Every statement which I make, I can prove 
] to be strictly correct ; and if I have erred in any thing, it has 
been in not giving my subjects so high a colouring, or so sensa- 
tional a character, as perhaps they had in their reality. The 
women of Utah will bear me witness that every word which I 
have written is true, although perhaps only a weak picture of 
the facts as they occurred. 

I do not wish to apologize for any imperfections in what I 
have written, although perhaps I might, as a woman, claim a 
little consideration. This is the first time that I have appear- 
ed in print, and probably it will be the last It had been fre- 
quently suggested to me that I should write a short history of 
my own life as a Mormon, but I never seriously entertained 
the idea. Only two or three weeks ago, not a single word 
was written, or a plan even outlined for a work of any kind. 
Very recent and unforeseen circumstances, although they found 
me, in every literary sense, unprepared for such an effort, led 
to a resolution that I would give to the world, and especially 
to my sisters in Utah, whose sympathy I feel assured I possess, 
an account of my own trials, which have been, and in many in- 
stances still are, their own. 

At the end of the volume I give an exact copy of the " Reve- 
lation," that any curiosity felt respecting it may be satisfied, 
and that my readers may see for themselves what the Mormon 
women are expected to believe and obey. The few " choice" 
extracts which follow it are taken from the writings and dis- 
courses of eminent modern Apostles. They will amply corro- 
borate every statement which I have made, and prove to the 
impartial mind that in no instance have I exaggerated or de- 
viated from the truth — but rather the reverse. I have told a 
plain story of facts, and have endeavoured to present a faith- 
ful picture of the terrible realities of Mormon Polygamy. 
Whether I have succeeded or not, let the reader determine. 

FANNY STENHOUSE. 

Salt Lake City, Utah. 



CONTENTS. 



Chapter L 

SAGS 

Early Life and Experience of the Authoress, ... 13 
Chapter II. 

Seeking after Truth — First Acquaintance with Mormon- 
ism — Favourable Impressions — I become the Wife of a 
Mormon Elder, 16 



Chapter III. 

My Husband leaves for Italy — Experiences as the Wife 
of a Missionary — Privations and Struggles with Poverty 
in England — Suspicions of Polygamy — "Privilege" of 
" washing the Elders' Feet'— Cheering Words in Time 
of Trouble, 19 

Chapter IV. 

Our Mission to Switzerland — Introducing Mormonism — 
Terrible Trials of Faith — Geneva— Days without Food — 
The new Convert — " The Labourer worthy of his Hire" 
— Timely Aid, 26 



Chapter V. 

The 11 Revelation" on Polygamy — How I received it — 
Left without Hope — The Doctrine of " plural Marriage" 
first taught — "Beauties" of the System — My first Con- 
vert to Polygamy — A Scene — Trials — How Work pro- 
gressed — Disaster to Swiss Emigration, . . .33 



8 



CONTENTS. 



Chapter VI. 

PAGE 

We return to England — How Polygamy was taught there — 
The Girls happy — The Wives miserable — General Ef- 
fects of the Doctrine — A Runaway Wife — How she 
acted in Haste and repented at Leisure — A Mother leaves 
her Babes — A Lady is " counselled" to emigrate with- 
out her Husband — Follies of certain Elders — Polygamic 
"Poetry"! . . . 44 

Chapter VII. 

Mormon Life in London — " Counselled" to go to Salt Lake 
Valley — Sickness and Annoyances — Doubts and Fears — 
Faith wavering — Loneliness in the great City— The 
" Dear American Brethren" — Preparations for leaving 
England, . . 55 



r 



Chapter VIII. 

We emigrate to America — New York — The Mormon — An 
" Apostle," two " High-Priests," and a " Seventy," and 
what they did — Polygamy in New York — The Elders 
from Utah choose other Wives — Plans disarranged — We 
set out for " Zion" — Three Months on the Plains — First 
Glimpse of " the City of the Saints," . . .62 

• Chapter IX. 

Life in Salt Lake City — Polygamy in Practice — The first 
Wife to be u destroyed " unless she consents — Deceptive 
Teaching about taking a second Wife — The Mormon 
Plan — " Labouring" with refractory Wives — Elderly 
Ladies assisting in Courtship — A first Wife's Trials — 
Anomalies of Polygamic Life, . ... 68 



Chapter X. 

Shocking Effects of Polygamy — Marrying a Half-Sister — 
A Mother and Daughter married to one Man — Marry- 
ing three Sisters on one Day! — "Covenants of Mar- 



CONTENTS. 



9 



riage"— Influence of Elders — A deluded "Sister" and 
her Persecutor — Mistaken Ideas of Duty — Another 
" Sister" betrayed — Men unhappy in Polygamy, . 77 

Chapter XL 

Illustrations of practical Polygamy — A " Sister" in deep 
Affliction — A Husband's Cruelty — A sad End — Various 
and fearful Results of Polygamy — Broken Hearts and 
Lunacy — Men " Sparking" in the Ball- Room — Women 
sitting like Wallflowers ! — Painful Memories — Intro- 
duced to five Wives at once — " Are these all you 
have got ?" — Matrimonial Felicities, . . . . 85 

Chapter XII. 

Going to the " Endowment House" — Wives^cruel to other * 
Wives — The Story of a young second Wife — -.How she 
came to marry — How she was treated — Neglect of 
the Husband — Cruelty of the first Wife — Goes to the 
" Bishop" — How young Girls in Polygamy value the 
Attentions of their Husbands — The Ways of Mormon 
Men, 94 

Chapter XIII. 
Fears realized — Meeting an old Friend from Switzerland — 
The Vicissitudes of himself and Family — How he was 
" counselled" to take another Wife — Brigham sends 
for me — My young Charge — "Not feeling well" — My 
Husband seeking a second Wife — A " painful " Task ! — 
Striving to submit — My attempts at Friendship with his 
Fiancee — My Heart not quite subdued, . . .104 



Chapter XIV. 

The Sacrifice of my Life — I give another Wife to my Hus- 
band — The Scene in the " Endowment House" — My 
Day of Trial — It was all over now — Bitter Miseries of 
Polygamy — Rebellious Thoughts — Retrospect of that 
Time — The first Wife not alone unhappy — Watchful 



* 10 



CONTENTS. 



'Eyes — A ludicrous Picture — Want of Sympathy — Seek- 
ing another "Jewel" for his " Corwn"— Enlarging the 
" Kingdom" — " Stolen Waters" — Love-Letters read in 
Secret — Reading the " Revelation" a second Time, . 117 

Chapter XV. 

Trouble with the Church — Implicit Obedience demanded— 
Confidence in the Church Authorities declining — Cling- 
ing to Faith — Attempting to suppress Doubts — How 
Inquiry was suggested — Brigham angry — " A Prophet 
might be mistaken" — Day dawning at last — " Obeying 
Counsel," and what it cost — An Article on " Pro- 
gress" — A Scene — We withdraw from the Church— A 
brutal and scandalous Outrage upon my Husband and 
myself— Strange Police ! — Without redress — Popular 
Anger — Private Sympathy, . . . . .129 

Chapter XVI. 

Recent Conclusions on Polygamy — Faith in the Doctrine 
declining — How Women in Utah feel — False Notions 
and Statements — Sophistries about Want of Faith — Opi- 
nions of the young Girls — Better Chances now — Changes 
operating in Utah — Brigham becomes fashionable- 
He abandons his own Teachings — How a Man with 
two Wives cleverly escaped from Utah and Polygamy — 
Difficulties of Husbands when they leave the Mormon 
Faith — Effects of the Law of 1862 — Domestic Sympa- 
thies — Evil Effects of Example upon Boys, . . 146 

Chapter XVII. 

An interesting Courtship — Brigham Young seeks an- 
other Wife — Martha Brotherton tells her Story of the 
Wooing — Abstract of her History — Difficulties in creat- 
ing Faith in Polygamy — " Tricks that are Vain" — " Are 
you ready to take Counsel ?" — Joseph Smith's little 
Room — "Positively no Admittance" — Joseph comes in — 
He assists BrighanVs Courtship — The Prophet a 



CONTENTS. 



" proxy" Lover — " A few Questions" — " Lawful and 
Right"— " The best Man in the World but Me"— " I 
will have a Kiss anyhow" — " Don't you believe in me ?" 
— " If you accept Brigham, you shall be blessed " — 
" If he turns you off, I will take you on" — " Not exactly, 
sir," 

Chapter XVIII. 

Marriage — The Age for Marrying — Seventy and Seven- 
teen — Women privileged to choose their own Husbands 
— Some Women make a Choice — Joseph's Widows — 
" Serving for seven Years" — Celestial Marriages — Bap- 
tism and Marriage for the Dead — Saving one's Ances- 
tors ad infinitum — Marrying for " Time and for Eter- 
nity" — The Register at Salt Lake, from which the 
World shall be judged — Difficulties of "proxy" Mar- 
riages — " Proxies" for the Empress Josephine and 
Napoleon I. — " The next best Thing" — Joseph's un- 
productive Polygamy — Divorce — Woman's solitary Pri- 
vilege — Divorce for ten Dollars! — Re-Marrying — 
Shocking instance of self-fulfilling a " Revelation" — 
Perverted Heroism — " Affinity" — Brother Hyde's Ar- 
gument — The Woman with seven Husbands — Statisti- 
cal Facts, . . . . . 

Chapter XIX. 

Domestic Life in Polygamy — Management of Families — 
Separate Homes — Half-a-dozen Wives under one Roof 
— Internal Arrangements — The "odd Day" for the 
first Wife — u Generosity" — How six Wives are visited — 
The Misery of poor Polygamists — The greater Misery 
in a wealthy House— "The Kingdom" — The Tale of 
the Doors and Windows — Fruitless good Intentions — 
Illustrative Instance of the Effects of Polygamy and 
Monogamy — An Economical Wife and her Object — 
Lost for Want of a little good Cooking — Wives in va- 
rious Places — Utilizing the Services of Wives — A Hus- 



12 



CONTENTS. 



band's Difficulties — Brigham Young — His " Homes" — 
Mrs. Young : Nineteen of her ! — Wives, and 
" proxy" Wives — The Bee-Hive House — The Lion 
House — Six other Houses — Domestic Relations — 
Brigham's Favourite — The Prophet in the Bail-Room — 
His Proscenium-Box at the Theatre — Delusion of Utah 
Women — Can this be from God ? . . . • 182 

Chapter XX. 

Gentiles in Utah — Mormon Women not allowed to mingle 
with them — Restrictions and Prejudices — Women and 
Men kept apart in the Tabernacle and in the Theatre — 
Keeps a Gentile Boarding-House — Times changed — 
Mormon Girls marrying Gentile Husbands — Why they 
prefer the Gentiles — Reasons of Jealousy — The Looks 
of the Mormon Women — False Notions — The Railway 
working Changes — An Appeal to Congress — The wisest 



Course to be adopted — To the Women of Utah, . . 198 
APPENDIX. 

The "Revelation" of Joseph Smith on Polygamy, . . 207 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



His New Wife — The "Wallflowers," . . .89 
" i could tear you to pieces !" 41 
" Labouring " with a Rebellious Wife, . . .72 
Mother and Daughter Wives to the same Husband, 77 
" Are these all you have got ?" .... 92 
Wife at Home — Husband Abroad, . . . 112 

The Wealthy Polygamist, 183 

Polygamy in Poverty, 185 

Brigham Young at Home, . 194 



* 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



CHAPTER I. 

Early Life and Experience of the Authoress. 

I was once a Mormon woman, and for over twenty 
years I have lived among Mormons. Their faith was 
once mine as truly as any words can express ; their 
thoughts were the same as mine ; their hopes were 
my hopes ; their religious opinions were in sympathy 
with my own. But that was in the time past. It 
seems long past, and yet it was, as I may say, only a 
little while ago — a few months, which I might almost 
count upon my fingers. Yet now all this is changed, 
and I have learned to see matters in another light. 

When I first listened to the preaching of the Mor- 
mon elders, I endeavored to judge impartially of their 
doctrines. I thought then that they were right. To 
me, at the time, they were right. But other views, 
which I now believe to be purer, better, and more 
truthful, have dawned upon my soul, and I can, I think, 
fairly say that I am a free woman — free from the 
bondage of superstition ; and as I write this, I feel 
the pleasure of the captive who shakes himself free 
from his chains. 



14 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



It has been suggested to me that I should, from 
my own personal experience, write the story of a Mor- 
mon woman living in the midst of Mormonism. I 
shall endeavour, in the following pages, to do so impar- 
tially and truthfully. But I wish to tell my story as 
simply as I can. Others, who are but partially in- 
formed, may write critically of what they have seen 
or heard ; but I shall give a record of what I myself 
have known and felt. 

Whatever opinion the reader may form of my life, 
past or present, is to me of little moment, and to him 
it can not be of much consequence. Personally, I 
have no claims to the attention and consideration of 
the world, nor do I desire that it should be other- 
wise. But as no woman's experience in Utah, who 
has been associated with Mormonism and seen its 
polygamic life, could be very different from my own, 
the facts set forth in this little work will enable the 
reader to comprehend the operation of the order of 
" celestial marriage." 

To answer the inquiry, how any woman can sub- 
mit to the practice of polygamy, I must of necessity 
give a brief history of my early life. From what I 
shall there state, the reader will see how I was led 
on, little by little, from total ignorance of that doc- 
trine, to a firm faith that it was a revelation from God, 
necessary to salvation. 

However strange what I relate may appear to 
those who are unacquainted with life in Utah, my 
story is but a shadow of the truth, although my expe- 
rience was, probably, the same as that of nine tenths 
of the Mormon women. 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



i5 



My first recollections of life were in St. Helier's, 
Jersey, one of the islands in the English Channel, 
where I was born. Through the preferences of my 
parents, my religious education and associations were 
with the Baptist denomination, my own disposition 
and feelings making this connection very agreeable, 
as I had, probably, for a girl of my age, a more than 
ordinary interest in religious observances. 

When fifteen years of age, I went to Brittany, in 
France, and entered into a Roman Catholic school as 
a teacher of English. While there, I had, of course, 
to conform to the rules of the school, and attend 
church with the pupils at all times when required to 
do so. Much as I respected the people with whom I 
was associated, for their kindness, I could not con- 
scientiously join with them in their devotions. I 
always took my Bible with me, and read it during the 
sendee ; and frequently in my loneliness and anxiety 
for some living religious truth, I would say, " Oh ! if 
there were only a prophet ministering now on earth, 
that I might go to him and ask, ' What shall I do to 
be saved V and thus receive an answer which would 
satisfy the craving of my soul." 

I remained in France six years, and then I obtained 
two months' vacation, for the purpose of visiting my 
parents, who had now removed from the island of 
Jersey to Southampton, (England.) 



CHAPTER H. 



Seeking the Truth — First Acquaintance with Mormonisni — Favourable 
Impressions — I become the Wife of a Mormon Elder. 

On visiting my birthplace, in the summer of 1849, 
I went to the house of my brother-in-law, who was 
an " apostate" Mormon. During my stay in his 
house, he spoke to me about the Mormons in not 
very flattering terms. At the same time, he told me 
that my father, mother, and, in fact, all my family, 
had adopted that faith. As I knew my parents, 
particularly my mother, to be sincere and devoted 
Christians, I began to think that Mormonism must 
be something different from what he represented it 
to be, or they never would have accepted it. I there- 
fore determined to investigate this religion, for the 
purpose of exposing its errors to my parents, for 
whom I entertained the deepest affection. 

I attended my first Mormon meeting at St. Helier's, 
Jersey. With what I heard that afternoon I could 
find no fault, although I was very much prejudiced 
against the new religion. On arriving the following 
week at my fathers home in Southampton, I began 
to observe very closely every thing that was said and 
done, to see if I could detect any change in the life 
of my parents and sisters. I could see no difference 
in my father and mother ; but I certainly saw a 
change in my sisters, who now forsook all amuse- 
ments suitable to their age, and thought of nothing 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. a 1 7 

but going to church and making clothing for the 
j missionaries who were to be sent out " without 
purse or scrip." 

All this interested me very much ; and, at my sis- 
ters' request, I went one Sunday morning to their 
place of worship. The sermon that I then heard per- 
fectly fascinated me. It was delivered by an elo- 
quent and enthusiastic young Mormon " Elder," who 
felt, or thought he felt, that he was " a servant of 
God," sent to preach deliverance to the people. 

He said that " an angel of God had appeared to 
Joseph Smith, and had revealed to him the everlast- 
ing Gospel." " There were now," he said, " living 
apostles ordained by the angels, the same as in days 
of old." 

At first I thought, " This is indeed glorious news ; 
but can it be true ?" The reflection then came that 
what the Lord had done already He could certainly 
do again. We were urged to be "baptized for the 
remission of our sins," with the promise that " we 
should receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, to witness 
unto us that we had done what the Lord had com- 
manded/' I knew that all this was according to 
Scripture, and I dared not reject it. Indeed, I had 
no desire to do so. I received it gladly. It was life 
to my soul. It was that which I had been desiring 
for years ; and I firmly believed that the Lord, in His 
mercy, had answered my prayers. I concluded to be 
baptized ; and I had no sooner made up my mind 
to do so, than I wanted it done. Two weeks after 
my arrival in England, I became formally a member 
of the Mormon Church. 



1 8 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



I felt that I had obeyed the commands of God, and 
was entitled to His blessing ; indeed, I felt that I 
was blessed, for my heart was full of joy and grati- 
tude. This the elders taught me was the Spirit of 
God. I now believe it was simply the answer of my 
conscience, which every sincere person enjoys in all 
religions. I had been taught, and I obeyed. 

I felt so happy and satisfied that I was in the right 
path that I could not make up my mind to return to 
France and the isolation which I felt there. I there- 
fore determined to resign my position, and make my 
home among the " Saints." 

A few months later, I was married to that same 
young Mormon Elder ; and then, in the joint prose- 
cution of our missionary labours, my troubles began. 
Some of my friends thought I was risking a great 
deal by becoming the wife of a man whose life was 
devoted to the Mormon ministry ; while others 
thought that I was highly honoured in getting a 
husband who held such a prominent position in the 
church. I was, however, satisfied, and willingly en- 
tered upon my new sphere as a missionary's wife, 
feeling sure that there were no obstacles so great 
that I could not overcome them. How little could I 
imagine then the life that was before me ! 



CHAPTER III. 



My Husband leaves for Italy — Experiences as the Wife of a Mission- 
ary — Privations and Struggles with Poverty in England — Suspicions 
of Polygamy— The " Privilege" of < < Washing the Elders' Feet"— 
Cheerful Words in Time of Trouble. 

I had been married about four months when my 
husband was called to go on a mission to Italy. 
What terrible news this was to me, for I was to be 
left behind ! In my grief I exclaimed, " Ah ! why 
could they not have selected some one else ?" Then 
I remembered how that, in my first joy and gratitude 
after being baptized into the church, I had said that 
I would do any thing that the Lord required of me ; 
and now I felt that He was going to put me to the 
test. Thus it was that, when asked by one of the 
" Twelve Apostles" if I were willing that my husband 
should go, I answered " Yes," although even at the 
time I thought that my very heart would break. 

As Mormon elders receive no salary, nor any re- 
muneration whatever, my husband was very much 
troubled about leaving me dependent on others, not 
being sure how I might be provided for, and knowing 
better than I did what want I should probably be 
exposed to. At his request, an old and valued friend 
was appointed his successor ; Mr. S. believing that in 
doing so I should be provided for and watched over ! 

In June, 1850, Mr. S. went on his mission, in com- 
pany with Lorenzo Snow, one of the " Twelve Apos- 



20 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



ties." Though terribly grieved at his departure, I 
felt some pride in the fact that my husband was the 
first of the elders in Britain who was sent on a foreign 
mission. 

For the first few weeks after his departure, my 
friends gathered around me and provided me with 
all that I needed. Before long, however, most of the 
" Saints" with whom I had been on intimate terms 
began to prepare for emigration to Utah. I soon 
- saw that I should be obliged to break up my home, 
and be contented with one room. This I did cheer- 
fully ; for, after the great trial of separating from my 
husband for three years — as I then thought — this 
was comparatively nothing. 

I got but little assistance from the church, and the 
question which now presented itself to my mind most 
imperatively was, " What can I do ?" The reply, 
mentally returned, was, " Nothing !" I could only 
teach English. But to whom could I teach English 
in England ? Still, I was not altogether useless or 
helpless. I could sew very well ; but I had as yet no 
confidence in myself, never having done any thing of 
the kind before as a matter of business. I was in 
the greatest trouble. I had neither food nor fire. I 
could not venture to write to my husband about this, 
for fear of unfitting him for carrying out fully his 
mission, which I then believed would be a sin. 

I then resolved that I would go round and visit 
some of my lady acquaintances, who had frequently 
invited me to come to their houses. I wished, it 
possible, to see whether, through their influence and 
introduction, I could do' any thing to earn a little 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 21 

money. Besides which I had another reason : I 
thought that possibly some one would ask me to dine 
with them. I was hungry enough, but I walked 
about the city, afraid to carry out my resolution, 
until I was quite worn out ; for I feared in my pride 
that they might suspect that I came purposely for 
something to eat Of this I was perfectly ashamed. 
No one who has not personally passed through such 
an ordeal can have any idea of what my feelings were. 

The shame I felt was only equalled by my necessi- 
ties, innocent as I was of any fault which could have 
placed me in this position. I was utterly miserable, 
and did not venture to call upon any one, but turned 
my steps toward my dreary home — only to fast and 
pray. The fasting, however, was not in my pro- 
gramme at that time. I had no inclination for it, 
although I was utterly unable to prevent it. I then 
earnestly prayed to the Lord to help me, and at the 
same time I thanked Him that I was counted worthy 
to suffer for His sake. 

The time was fast approaching when I knew that 
I should be compelled to have fire and other necessa- 
ries ; but where to get them I knew not. 

One evening I was asked to dine at the house of a 
friend where some of the elders from Salt Lake were 
visiting, and I accepted the invitation with a great 
deal of pleasure, for more than one reason. It was 
thought a great privilege at that time to meet with 
American elders. . Some of these gentlemen assumed 
such authority that they impressed the " Saints" with 
the idea that they were little gods. We had not then 
seen them at home ! 



22 



WHAT I KNOW APOUT POLYGAMY. 



I went to dine with these brethren, and as it is a 
Mormon woman's " privilege'' [?] to sit and " listen" 
to the " lords of creation/' without joining in the con- 
versation at all, I had then, of course, that same privi- 
lege of listening while dinner was preparing. 

I can not tell the horror of what I then heard. 
They were talking among themselves about Polyga- 
my, but in such a covert way that it was evident that 
they thought I could not understand what was said. 
Neither should I have understood it had it not been 
that I had heard some whisperings of this kind once, 
before my husband went away, though then I did not 
believe it. I had asked him about the new doctrine, 
and he had reassured me by stating that there was 
"no truth in it ;" that it was a slander, promulgated 
by some evil-tongued people to injure " the cause." 
I heard, however, something that day which troubled 
me very much, and I resolved to ask these " brethren" 
now present to tell me the honest truth — whether 
Polygamy really existed in Utah, or did not. 

They positively denied its existence, and though I 
did believe then that what they said was true, I 
afterwards discovered much which troubled and wor- 
ried me, and being constantly anxious to learn the 
truth, there was not much that escaped my notice. 

I became wretchedly suspicious. At dmes, I even 
fancied that my husband had deceived me ; and that 
thought was to me madness. I said — whatever other 
men may do, my husband will not deceive me. O 
dear ! no. That I could not believe. 

I now felt more inclined for fasting than for pray- 
ing. In fact, just then it would have been utterly 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 23 

impossible for me to pray, I was so wretched. Doubts 
and fears had begun to creep into my mind, and it 
appeared to me (if I may say so) that the Lord, like 
a hard task-master, was exacting from me more than 
I had bargained to do or suffer when I embraced 
Mormonism. These troubled thoughts were not calcu- 
lated to make me feel happy in my relations with the 
church, and I tried to overcome my feelings, and 
attain to a better state of mind, trusting sincerely in 
God that all would yet be well. 

But to return to my difficulty in earning a living. 

After some time I finally got a little plain sewing 
to do. This enabled me to win my daily bread and 
to pay the rent of my room, as well as to make a few 
scanty preparations for the little stranger which I 
now daily expected. The reader may suppose that 
it was, after all, a very hard struggle. 

Now began the arduous task of endeavouring to 
support myself and my babe. In this dear little one 
there was to me another strong incentive to exertion. 
But how and where I was to get work, and what I was 
to do — and, in fact, what I could do — I did not know. 
There was nothing for me as far as I could see. I 
was willing to do any work, if only I could get it to 
do — that was now the difficulty. Yet I determined 
not to be foiled. I managed to live ; but how ? 
Sometimes, for two weeks together, I had nothing 
but dry bread. I became pale and thin, and so weak 
that I could scarcely walk. 

I now became better acquainted with Mormonism, 
as I was able to go more among the Saints. But I 
lost confidence in the missionary brethren when I 



24 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



saw how familiarly they conducted themselves with 
the young " sisters ;" for I knew that the elders I 
allude to were married men. They taught the 
* sisters," both married and single, that it was their 
Privilege to wash the elders feet, and to comb their liair, 
and in fact to wait on them in every way imaginable. 
This I mean literally. There was nothing symboli- 
cal about it, and many of our silly girls liked nothing 
better. I saw even then that this was not right, and 
it annoyed me greatly. 

With the President of the London Conference and 
his family I was well acquainted, and I knew that 
this man came down from London to the Southamp- 
ton Conference about every two or three weeks, to 
court a young " sister." He supplied her with 
money, and otherwise acted in a way which appeared 
to me almost scandalous. His conduct shook the 
faith of some of the older Saints. In these days the 
elders would take young girls to the theatres and 
other places of amusement, while their own wives 
remained at home. I sincerely believe now that 
many of these men taught Polygamy to the girls, 
while they denied it to the public. 

I felt lonely, wretched, and disappointed in my re- 
ligion, though I still believed it. Yet I dared not 
ask my husband to abandon his mission and come 
home. I resolved that I would try to endure to the 
end. Then, too, I knew that even at the worst he 
would return some time, and all my troubles, I felt, 
would then be ended ; for I believed that he would be 
able to explain all to me — yes, every thing. 

About this time I learned that Lorenzo Snow (the 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 25 

* Apostle" in whose company Mr. S. went to Italy) 
was on his way to England. This intelligence made 
me very happy, as may be supposed. I waited anx- 
iously to see him. On his arrival, he came directly 
to my house. He seemed very much shocked to see 
the change in my appearance, and said that he would 
send for my husband to come home immediately. 



CHAPTER IV. 



Our Mission to Switzeiland — Introducing Mormonism — Terrible Trials 
of Faith — Geneva — Days without Food — The new Convert — "The 
Labourer worthy of his Hire" — Timely Aid. 

After about a year's absence, Mr. S. returned to 
England, and we were invited to attend a conference 
of the Saints, which was to be held in London, in June, 
185 1. During this conference, the " Apostle" Snow- 
expressed his great indignation at the manner in 
which I had been neglected, and said that I should 
no longer remain in connexion with the Southampton 
Conference. It was decided that my husband should 
go on a mission to Switzerland ; that I should go 
with him, and that we should begin our missionary 
labours in Geneva. One great incentive to this re- 
solution was, that I could speak the French language 
fluently. It was, therefore, thought that I should be 
of great service in assisting Mr. S. with his work. I 
was ready to do any thing that might be required ot 
me, if only I could be with him. 

Mr. S. had once more silenced my fears about Poly- 
gamy, and I was again happy. 

We started on our journey — Mr. S., myself, and our 
dear little Clara, who was then only six months old. 
How much I loved that little child, no tongue can 
tell ! Had she not been my sole companion through 
so many weary days and nights of sorrow ? 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 2j 

On our arrival at Geneva, we commenced our mis- 
sionary labours immediately ; but we made very little 
progress, as Mr. S. was not much acquainted with the 
French language, and the Genevese do not readily 
receive strangers. We had but a small sum of money 
left when we reached our destination, and we econo- 
mized as much as we possibly could, hoping to make 
what we had last until some one should join the 
church, who might be able to assist the mission. We 
had full faith and confidence that the Lord would 
raise up friends to aid us in the work. But time 
rolled on, and we had laboured faithfully for several 
months with apparently little success. 

My whole soul was in my mission, and I was re- 
solved to fulfil it, as far as human power, aided by the 
grace of God, could do so. I sought every opportu- 
nity of introducing among the ladies the Mormon 
faith ; and I tried in every way to live in such a 
manner as to be an example to those who might be 
converted and join the church, or who might be in- 
clined to do so. We kept " The Word of Wisdom" * 
strictly, and never took tea, coffee, wine, or warm 
drinks of any kind for years. 

Mr. S. studied early and late to acquire a knowledge 
of the French language, hoping soon to be able to 
make some impression upon the people. 

One day he received a letter from an " infidel," who 
lived in a neighbouring canton, asking him to come 
and see him, in order that they might talk over Mor- 
monism, for he had heard of us and our doctrine. We 

* A " Revelation" of Joseph Smith, which all good Mormons 
observed. 



28 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



were very much pleased at this invitation, for it 
seemed now that the Lord was about to do something. 
Mr. S. accordingly went to see this man. He stayed 
with him several days, convinced him of the truth of 
the new faith, and, finally, baptized him. He then 
returned home. 

Our money was now nearly gone, and I was very 
weak from lack of proper nourishment, and dispirited 
by continual anxiety. I caught a severe cold, and 
was confined to my bed for a time. My courage at 
last entirely failed me. Weak and sick as I was, not 
a soul came to my room. In fact, who should come ? 
I had no friend there. The very knowledge that we 
had come to set forth a strange and unpopular reli- 
gion, made every one avoid me. 

My husband was sad and very anxious. Nor need 
this excite wonder when it is considered that there 
was nothing to make life pleasant to either of us, ex- 
cept the thought that we were both the servants of 
God, and had dedicated our lives to His service. 

About a month after the return of Mr. S. from the 
house of the gentleman whom he had baptized, we 
received a letter from him. As it was opened, a piece 
of gold fell on the table. It afterward appeared that 
this new convert, although he " suspected it might 
be useful/' did not like to offer money to Mr. S. But 
when he had gone, he determined to send a trifle, 
saying, at the same time, that " the labourer is worthy 
of his hire." Never was a Scripture phrase more 
truthful and welcome in its application. We were 
very grateful indeed for this timely help, small as it 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 29 

was, for it seemed to us like a recognition of our 
work. How great are trifles to the hopeful mind ! 

There were dark clouds on every side, and in mo- 
ments of despondency we almost feared that they 
would never clear away. Yet in all this trouble, our 
faith remained unshaken ; and even in the darkest 
hour of trial, we felt happy in the belief in the divi- 
nity of Mormonism. 

With all our faith, one question was, perforce, ever 
uppermost in our minds, how to obtain the necessary 
means of subsistence ? This was an unanswerable 
difficulty. With the very greatest economy, the time 
came at last when our money was all gone. We had 
not a coin, or any representative of money, and we 
had no reason to hope for any. We were in a strange 
country, among strangers, and in the depth of winter, 
without fire and without food. What was to be done ? 
In the anguish of my soul, I exclaimed, with bitter 
tears, " Look down, O God ! in Thy mercy, upon my 
innocent little one, who is now suffering from cold 
and hunger, while we, her parents, are devoting our 
lives, our all, to Thy service." 

In this trying hour we were speechless. We both 
felt our helplessness, but neither dared to speak to 
the other about that which weighed so heavily upon 
our hearts. It was only our belief in the divinity of 
our mission that sustained us. Incredible as it may 
appear, for nearly one week all that we had to exist 
upon was about a pint of corn flour or maize, and 
that was principally reserved for our child. 

Up to this time, but two persons had joined the 
church in Geneva. They were poor m$n, and their 



30 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 

wives were very much opposed to the step which they 
had taken in embracing Mormonism, and thus there 
was very little to expect from them, We were living 
in a furnished room, and my little daughter was a 
great favourite with the family in whose house we 
were. I was not sorry for this ; for in the time of our 
greatest distress, I used often quietly to open my 
door at their meal times, and the child would make 
her way to the dining-room, and get something to 
eat. Humiliating as this was to me, I felt satisfied 
for a while, at least, that she was not suffering from 
hunger as much as we ourselves were. 

At the end of that week, when it seemed that we 
could not exist another day without some nourish- 
ment, Mr. S. went to the house of one of the newly 
converted brethren, whom I have mentioned, with 
the intention of telling him of our peculiarly distress- 
ing circumstances ; but when he arrived there, he 
really had not courage to do so, and he returned again 
without saying any thing of the matter. My heart 
sank within me, for I entered into his thoughts, al- 
though he did not speak. My little one was then 
reposing in my arms. She had cried herself to 
sleep, hungry and cold. 

I could not say any thing to my husband when he 
came home ; for I felt instinctively that he had been 
unsuccessful, and I was almost choking with emotion, 
which I attempted to suppress. As we sat there 
silently in the twilight, neither of us venturing to 
speak to the other, I mentally prayed to the Lord, 
(if it was His will,) that rather than see my darling 
wake up again to hunger and suffering, she might 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



31 



quietly sleep her sweet young life away. As I now 
write, the recollection of that time comes back so 
vividly that my eyes fill with tears. 

While sitting in this fearful gloom, which afterward 
seemed to me the most solemn hour of my life, I 
heard a step in the hall, and something whispered to 
me, " Help is coming." A moment after, the brother 
whom Mr. Stenhouse had called upon entered the 
room with some provisions, and he slipped a five-franc 
piece into my hand. Mr. S. had said nothing to him ; 
but after he had left the house, this brother said that 
from my husband's manner, he felt convinced that we 
were suffering, as he knew that as missionaries we 
had no means of subsistence, and that according to 
the usual custom among the Mormons, we had to 
preach " without purse or scrip." 

The assistance thus received was a relief from pre- 
sent want, but the future seemed like a dark cloud to 
hang over my path. I was now in worse circum- 
stances than I had been at the birth of my first child ; 
for I was among strangers, and had absolutely no- 
thing but what the few brethren were kind enough 
to bring to us from time to time. 

I again found, as I had previously experienced at 
many other periods of my life, the truth of the old 
verse : 

u Behind a frowning providence, 
God hides a smiling face." 

The " smiting face" this time took once more the 
form of the " Apostle" Snow. Oh ! how glad I was 
to see him. He had, as I have related, brought me 
joy and gladness once before when I was in great 



32 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



trouble, and I almost looked upon him as my good 
genius. After all, I was not so very much mistaken ; 
for he gave me a little money to provide for our pre- 
sent necessities, and told Mr. Stenhouse that after 
a while he should return to England, and raise what- 
ever funds might be needful to enable us to carry out 
our mission ; for he plainly saw that, however endur- 
ing faith might be, no one could live without money. 
In fact, the American elders, as I afterward discov- 
ered, did not themselves try, under similar circum- 
stances, to work unaided, although they had no objec- 
tion to the British elders doing so. 

After the birth of my second child, we went to 
Lausanne,Canton de Vaud ; for Mr. Stenhouse thought 
it would be better for me to remain there during his 
absence in England, as he had, in addition to this 
" infidel/' whom he had baptized, made the acquain- 
tance of a very good man of very excellent family. 
In this gentleman's house I engaged apartments, ex- 
pecting to pay for them, but he never permitted me to 
do so ; and from that day, I never suffered in Switzer- 
land from want of the necessaries of life. 

I lived very quietly and comfortably for three 
months, during the absence of Mr. S. in England. I 
had not much, it is true ; but then a very little sufficed 
for my wants. I had that, and I was satisfied and 
happy ; for this Mr. B. and his family were very kind 
indeed to me, and even now, as I review the past, I 
can say, with all truthfulness, that from the com- 
mencement of my missionary life — now over twenty 
years ago— till I left Mormonism, that brief period in 
Switzerland was the only happy time I ever knew. 



1 



CHAPTER V. 

The " Revelation" on Polygamy — How I received it — Left without 
Hope — The Doctrine first taught — " Beauties" of the System — My 
first Convert to Polygamy — A Scene — How Work progressed — Dis- 
aster to Swiss emigration. 

Mr. S. returned from England, and, after a while, 
began in conversation to introduce — gently and enig- 
matically, I thought — the subject of Polygamy, at the 
same time telling me that he " did not know " that it 
was true, but that he had heard that there had been 
a revelation given about it. He dreaded to tell me 
the truth ; but I had heard enough, and determined 
not to accept the doctrine. Still, at times, I tried to 
hide my feelings from him ; for I hoped that, after 
all, the intelligence might even now not prove true. 
Vain hope ! for very soon the " revelation" was sent 
from " Zion," with instructions to make no secret 
of it. 

A printed copy of the " revelation" was given to 
me to read. I was just about to sit down to the 
breakfast-table. There were present a Protestant 
minister, whom Mr. S. had baptized, and two Mor- 
mon elders. The minister knew nothing of the " re- 
velation ;" but my husband and the two elders looked 
at me, to watch the effect produced upon my mind 
by its perusal, with an interest and solemnity as if 
they were breaking to me cautiously the news of my 
mothers death. 



34 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 

I immediately left the room and sought the retire- 
ment of my own apartment, where, after locking the 
door, I began to read the document ; but before I 
had got through one half I threw it aside, feeling al- 
together rebellious against God. I now began to feel 
perfectly reckless, and even willing to throw aside 
my religion, and take " my chance of salvation," ra- 
ther than submit to Polygamy ; for I felt that that 
new doctrine was a degradation to womankind. I 
asked myself, "Why did the Lord wish to humiliate 
my sex in this manner ?" though at the same time I 
believed, as I was told, that the " revelation'' was in- 
deed sent from God. Perhaps if I had kept calm, 
and had I read it through very carefully and allowed 
my own judgment to be exercised upon it, I might 
have detected there and then that there was no di- 
vinity in it, as I afterwards discovered, to my satis- 
faction, when I read it a second time, after the lapse 
of many years. 

After some time I began to feel a little more calm, 
and was able to reason with myself about Polygamy. 
If, said I, this " revelation" is of God, (and of course 
it is,) then I ought not to oppose it. It never once 
entered my mind that any man would dare to give a 
revelation to the world as coming from God except it 
was tr«ue. Then, I thought, if the Lord requires me 
to submit, it must be for some good purpose ; for " He 
doeth all things well." I must, therefore, try to sub- 
due this wicked and rebellious nature of mine, and 
submit to His divine will, and surely He will aid 
and bless me. After these reflections and constant 
prayer, I managed to subdue my disobedient heart 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 35 



sufficiently to make my appearance again among the 
brethren in the breakfast-room. But, oh ! that was 
indeed a wretched day for me ; and every day after 
was more wretched than the previous one. Polygamy 
was the last thing I thought of at night, and the first 
thing in the morning. It was with me in my waking 
hours and in the dead of the night. It haunted me 
like a spectre. It was like a fearful blight that had 
fallen upon me and was withering my soul. One 
thought was ever present in my mind — that thought, 
Polygamy ! , 

How should I be ever able to bear it ? In a mo- 
ment, every thing in life appeared to have lost its 
charm for me, except my darling children, and they 
seemed now to be dearer than ever ; for I felt that 
they were indeed my own, and that no one could take 
them away from me. But how I mourned over my 
little daughter ; for I felt that she, perhaps, would 
some day suffer as I did. Oh ! I exclaimed, may 
heaven forbid it ! She is to-day a polygamic wife, and 
the mother of two children ! 

I would not have my readers think that I bore all 
my troubles in the introduction of Polygamy meekly, 
like a saint. Indeed I did not ; and I firmly believe 
that I was a sore trial to my husband. I was wicked 
and rebellious at times, and said very bitter things of 
" the Prophet of the Lord," and all his sex, my hus- 
band included ; for I began to hate the very name of 
"man." I am afraid that Mr. S. was very much 
shocked indeed, for he was then a devoted Mormon. 
He often told me that I was a great clog to him, and 



36 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



more than once he said he could not enjoy the Spirit 
of God and live with me. 

But I was not always so rebellious. There were 
days when I was full of sorrow and regret for what I 
deemed my wicked thoughts about " celestial mar- 
riage/' and then I would fast and pray, and seek for- 
giveness from the Lord and from my husband. But 
even in my best moments, I could never bear to hear 
him speak about Polygamy ; and whenever the elders 
came to our house, the painful topic was sure to be 
discussed. As soon as I heard it, all my angry ex- 
citement returned, and I instantly felt a spirit of re- 
bellion stirring within me. I could not help it. I 
felt that womankind was insulted whenever the sub- 
ject was mentioned, and I never got over the feeling. 
Oh ! I thought, how shall I ever " get salvation" with 
such an offending heart as mine ? 

It was necessary, however, for me to do something ; 
for I was told by my husband, and the other elders 
who were present at the time, that it devolved on me 
to teach the hateful doctrine to the women of Switz- 
erland. That was to be my mission, and I, poor, de- 
luded thing that I was, believed it to be so. I con- 
cealed my feelings as best I could, for I was obliged 
to nerve myself to the task, and prepare to perform 
my duty, trusting in God to assist me. How fearful 
a task this was ! 

My sorrow concerning the introduction of Polygamy 
was not like any other grief, for it was utterly with- 
out hope. Had its teachings been for this life only, 
I could have borne it with more fortitude, and should 
have endeavoured to resign myself to my fate. But 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



37 



we were taught that it was to be " for time and for 
eternity/' When I thought that some time my life 
must end, and that then earthly sorrows would cease, 
this brought me no comfort ; for the cause of my grief 
was still to exist beyond the grave. Polygamy was 
to be practised in heaven as well as on the earth. 
The only possible hope that remained to me was 
that there — in another world — I might perhaps be so 
changed as not to know myself or any one else ; or 
that my feelings might be so greatly altered from 
what they were in this world that I should not real- 
ize any pain from what we were taught were the 
matrimonial arrangements in heaven. 

Feeling, as I did, so acutely myself, how was I to 
break the intelligence of this new and terrible " reve- 
lation" to those honest, loving women with whom I 
was acquainted ? I shrank from the task of inflict- 
ing so much pain. Their own husbands had not 
courage to tell them, and I am sure that I had not. 
But I had already been instructed in the manner in 
which I was to endeavour to impart to them a know- 
ledge of the doctrine. I had also myself been taught 
respecting the beauties of the "system," so that I 
might be able to introduce it in a proper manner. It 
is needless to say that I failed to see those " beauties." 

It was soon settled which of the sisters was to be 
the first victim. She was one whom we all dreaded 
most, although for rather peculiar reasons. She was 
a good woman ; but, like myself, possessed the weak- 
ness of being too fond of her husband. She was pos- 
sessed also of a very high spirit, and was indeed a 
completely spoiled child. 



38 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



It was told her that I had some new principle to 
communicate to her from " Zion," and she was sent 
to my apartment to hear it. 

" No, I have nothing to tell you," I said. 

* Yes, you have," she replied ; "for your husband 
and mine said so." 

" No," I answered ; " if there was any thing, I can 
not now remember what it might be." The truth 
was, my courage had all left me. 

I stood there, pale and trembling, even though she 
was my intimate friend. She noticed it, and feared 
that I was ill. I was ill — worse than she thought or 
could yet imagine. 

However, I presently regained composure enough 
to commence telling her, and she listened quietly for 
a while, when suddenly she sprang up, and, with great 
emotion, cried, " O mon Dim ! Quelle religion des 
animaux ! And your husband to come to us Swiss 
with such a religion as that !" She perfectly scared 
me. She nearly annihilated me with her looks. 
What a commencement to my mission ! 

I did not attempt to stop her or get away, say 
what she liked, for I knew from my own experience 
what she suffered. I believed, however, that there 
was no other way for her to " obtain salvation," and 
my heart ached for her. After she had spent her 
wrath, she came and sat by me and said, " Does my 
husband believe this ?" 

" Yes," I replied, " he does." 

Then followed another outburst of grief and rage 
fearful to witness. I tried to soothe her, but it was 
useless. She was one of those gushing, impulsive 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



39 



women, who give way to passions of grief, and I saw 
that it was best to leave her alone. When she be- 
came more calm, we talked over it and wept together, 
and together knelt and prayed. I was almost going 
to add, we swore together in the same breath ! This, 
of course, we did not do. It was something else ! 
Finally, we came to the conclusion that we would 
both of us fight against the doctrine, and that we 
would likewise teach all the sisters to do so. 

This was certainly a pretty state of affairs ! 

After she had left the room, I began to feel 
ashamed of myself, that I, a missionary's wife, should 
have thus given way. Here, I thought, is all my 
work to do over again. However, she repented, and 
I repented ; and we now agreed to talk to the other 
sisters about it, and see how they would take it. I 
felt a little better, now that I had a companion in 
misery who could sympathize with me ; and we con- 
soled each other, neither of us believing that our hus- 
bands would ever practically adopt the doctrine, or, 
at least, not for a long time to come. 

We taught it to the other sisters ; but it was the 
same sad story over and over again. Some rebelled, 
and some even fell sick over it. They all lost their 
joyous, happy looks ; and now understood why, for 
some time past, I had appeared so unhappy and 
miserable. 

At every council of the missionary brethren, the 
sisters became suspicious of their husbands and what 
teaching they might be listening to. It was very 
evident that Polygamy was not going to contribute 
in any way to our peace of mind or happiness. We 



40 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



could not see how it was possible that any good could 
result from it. The missionary elders, on the con- 
trary, seemed deeply interested in the new doctrine, 
and saw " glories" and " beauties" in it that had never 
been dreamed of before. They could see far away 
into the eternal world the " exaltation" that awaited 
the women who would " give wives to their hus- 
bands." 

The teaching of the doctrine of plural wives, in 
Switzerland, was fortunately limited. The Protestant 
minister, of whom I before spoke, received at first the 
announcement of " celestial marriage" with unfeigned 
pleasure. He had no son to transmit his name to 
posterity, and he flattered himself with hope. But 
his wife, who was not very young, attacked him so 
violently that he soon abandoned not only the ideas 
of patriarchal marriage, but also Mormonism itself. 

A sister of the lady to whom I had first taught the 
doctrine of Polygamy, as soon as she discovered that 
I had converted her sister, called to see me, in com- 
pany with another lady. She was a tall, angular 
woman. As she entered the room, she asked me it 
I were Mrs. Stenhouse. I answered affirmatively ; 
and, before I had time to ask her to be seated, she 
caught hold of me by the shoulders, like a maniac, 
and shook me violently, quite taking away my breath. 
I was like a child in her hands, and could offer no re- 
sistance. I had not been accustomed to such vio- 
lence as this. She then began to declaim wildly 
against me, and declared that she hated me for teach- 
ing her sister such an abominable religion. Her 
passion rising again, she seized me a second time, 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



41 



and, forcing me into a corner, stood nervously clutch- 
ing her hands and making for my face, screaming 
violently that she felt as if she " could tear me to 
pieces/' All this time her friend stood by, with 
an amused expression on her countenance, as if she 
quite enjoyed the sight. But to me it was no joke ; 
and I do not know what the enraged woman would 
have done to me, had not a gentleman, who was a 
friend of Mr. S., happened to come in at the moment, 
and, hearing the uproar, hastened to my rescue. The 
reader may well suppose that I shall not easily for- 
get my experiences in introducing Polygamy among 
the Swiss. 

The first emigration from Switzerland had a sad 
history. The emigrants were a good people, of the 
class bourgeoisie, who for the Mormon faith left all 
that was dear to them in fatherland, and, in many 
cases, gave up the homesteads which had been theirs 
and their ancestors* for many generations. 

Once, when Mr. S. returned from visiting several 
cantons where he had been for the purpose of coun- 
selling the Saints to emigrate, he told me it took all 
the courage he could muster to tell people in such 
comfortable circumstances to sell all and to gather to 
the deserts of Utah. The thought was painful ; but 
faith prevailed, and those among the simple people of 
the Helvetian Republic who had embraced the Mor- 
mon faith, set out, regarding little the perils of the 
ocean or the privations of the prairie, believing only 
that every weary step they took led them nearer to 
the " Zion" of their hopes. 



42 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



The story of that emigrant band is very sad. Faith 
had been the actuating principle which induced each 
one of the company to leave all that was dear on 
earth and set out for the City of the Saints. But 
privation and misery shook the faith of some, and in 
many instances banished even the shadow of hope. 

On their way to " Zion," some of the emigrants 
became dissatisfied, and separated from the general 
company. They were overtaken between St. Louis 
and the frontiers by the dreadful cholera of 1853, 
and almost totally perished. When the news reached 
Switzerland, the friends of those who were thus lost 
were very naturally enraged with the Mormon mis- 
sionary who had " led them into all their trouble and 
to death." This demonstration of anger was some- 
what unreasonable, for every emigrant must himself 
have known that his way to Utah was not over a 
path strewn with roses ; and the missionaries who 
advised the journey, being only human, could not 
possibly foresee the visitation of the cholera, which 
proved so fatal to the pilgrims. 

These facts, however, no one seemed to take 
into consideration ; and it was with difficulty that 
Mr. S. escaped from personal violence in Lausanne. 
Though his friends counselled his instant departure 
from the place, with his usual " confidence in God," 
he stopped over night ; but the morning's reflections 
suggested discretion and an early departure. 

Those of the Swiss pilgrims who escaped the 
scourge of the cholera were only spared to realize that 
other scourge — Polygamy. 

Many a time, amidst the horrors of polygamous 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



43 



"Zion," have faithful wives, who passed unscathed 
through that terrible plague, wished that it might 
have been their own fate to have perished with their 
countrywomen on the desert wilds. 

We remained in Switzerland about three years and 
a half. The mission, notwithstanding its dark be- 
ginning, had been very successful. Mormonism had 
been introduced into seven cantons ; a paper, in the 
French language, was published by Mr. S., in the in- 
terests of that faith, in Geneva, as well as books and 
brochures in the French, German, and Italian lan- 
guages, almost entirely supported at the expense of 
the converted Swiss. By the time that we left, there 
were several missionaries from Utah, and about the 
same number from England, labouring in Helvetia. 

Mr. S. requested to be released from his presidency 
of the Swiss and Italian missions ; and, with the 
means which some of the more wealthy of the emi- 
grating Swiss had generously furnished, we were 
provided with what was necessary for our journey to 
Utah. 



CHAPTER VI. 



We return to England — How Polygamy was taught there — The 
Girls happy— The Wives miserable— General Effects of the Doc- 
trine — A Runaway Wife — How she acted in Haste and repented at 
Leisure — A Mother leaves her Babes — A Lady is " counselled " to 
emigrate without her Husband — Follies of certain Elders — 
Polygamic " Poetry!" 

We returned to England in November, 1854, with 
the intention of leaving for Utah in the following 
spring. Until the period of emigration arrived, we 
went to reside in the house of the President of the 
London Conference, and it was at that time that I 
first began seriously to doubt the truth of Mormon- 
ism. I gradually became convinced, though I could 
scarcely explain how, that there was something wrong, 
something that I did not understand, underlying the 
whole system. I began to realize that there was 
more of frail humanity about it than of the pure and 
holy religion that I had believed it to be ; for the reader 
must remember that, however much I was opposed 
to Polygamy, it never once entered my thoughts to 
question that it was a pure and religious principle. 

I believed that my opposition to Polygamy in Swit- 
zerland was the result of my own " depraved nature," 
and not the fault of my religion. But soon after our 
arrival in London, I began to hear things about the 
authorities of the church in Utah that I was con- 
vinced could not be right. 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 45 



On the continent we had only seen and heard our- 
selves and our own converts on the new revelation- 
On our arrival in England, I was somewhat anxious 
to learn how others had received it. 

The young girls were pleased with it, for it ex- 
tended their chances of marriage, and they were the 
recipients of many attentions from the elders. It 
was natural for them to be gratified with the assu- 
rance that it was their " privilege" to tell any man 
of their love, and that it was his duty to marry them. 
But during a year's residence in London, I never 
met a happily married woman in the Mormon Church 
who did not abhor it. They were submissive to its 
teachings, as it had no immediate results there ; but 
it troubled them terribly and rendered them mise- 
rable when they thought of going to Utah. 

Married women had, however, the same favourable 
attentions and compliments paid them as the young 
girls, for the Gentile marriage never stood in the 
way. It could at any time be broken, if the lady had 
only the inclination or nerve to do it. No married 
missionary could take another wife in Europe with- 
out special permission from Brigham Young; but they 
could, and did, teach married women that in " Zion" 
the " Gentile chain was broken," and that the ladies 
could choose for husbands, " whom they would in the 
Lord," when they got there, hinting, at the same 
time, that they, themselves, would be in the market. 
That teaching was not listened to by some; but it was 
by others, and many homes in England have been 
blighted by it, and broken up. 
; Women who were ill-mated, or imagined that they 

I 



4 6 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



were, saw an easy way of settling their difficulties 
when Polygamic teaching instructed them that all 
marital covenants and obligations, before entering 
into the church, were unrecognized by the Lord. All 
that they had to do was to induce their husbands to 
take them to Utah, and if the husband refused to go, 
the wife could go alone. " Get away pleasantly and 
quietly if you can ; if you cannot — get away any how/' 
This was frequently the counsel given, and not infre- 
quently acted upon. A pretty face or attractive 
person never lacked facilities for getting away. 

Husbands who were dissatisfied with their wives 
could leave them and their families, also, and go to 
" Zion" alone, if the wife and family refused to accom- 
pany them. The husband was the head of the wife, 
and should do his own duty, whether his wife and 
children did theirs or not. If his family did not 
follow him, he could take a young wife or wives there, 
and t: lay the foundation anew" for another family ; 
arid in his experience he believed that the promise 
was singularly fulfilled, that " he who forsaketh wife 
or child for my sake shall have a hundred fold." That 
run-a-way husband was, of course, entitled to a hun- 
dred young girls, if he could only get them and keep 
them. 

Such things were not taught to ignorant men and 
women only, but also to people in very much better 
positions. I know one gentleman in Liverpool who 
separated from his family because of their unbelief in 
Mormonism, and made great sacrifices in order to go 
to Utah. He married an accomplished young lady 
in Salt Lake City, and lived long enough in Zion to 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



47 



wish that he had never been there. The last 
marriage was happy enough ; but the gentleman and 
lady outlived their faith, and concluded to separate 
and leave the country. The young lady returned to 
London, the gentleman to Liverpool — a poorer, but 
a wiser man. 

There was also an old couple with whom I was 
well acquainted in Portsmouth. They were engaged 
in business, and doing very well. The wife joined 
the Mormon Church, and the husband, being a good- 
natured old gentleman, allowed her to do just what 
she liked, and she was very liberal to the mission- 
aries. She heard so much of the glories of " Zion" 
that she began to tease her husband to emigrate, 
although he did not wish to do so. But as he dis- 
covered that she was growing dissatisfied and un- 
happy about it, he consented to let her go alone, 
believing that she would return again. She went to 
Utah provided with abundance of every thing and 
plenty of money. Soon after her arrival there, she 
was married to an old Mormon elder, who built a 
house with her money and otherwise made himself 
very comfortable. Then he took a young wife, and 
then another ; and among them they led the old lady 
such a life that she was glad to leave the house and 
labour for her support as best she could. She fre- 
quently heard from her husband in England, who 
had fretted until he fell sick. He had to get a nurse 
or housekeeper, and as he was well to do, this person 
contrived to get him to marry her. After a year or 
two, he died, leaving all his property to her ; while 
the poor old lady was living in Utah in poverty, very 



4 8 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



unhappy and bitterly repenting her folly in leaving 
so good a husband as he had been to her. While 
the old gentleman was sick, I saw the old lady in 
deep distress of mind, as she could not get money to 
take her back to England. Had she got there while 
the old gentleman was still alive, she would doubtless 
have inherited all his property ; but now she is poor 
and homeless. 

Some years later, while living in New York, I saw 
other illustrations of the baneful teachings in Eng- 
land. One of the Mormon elders, on his return from 
a mission to Europe, came to my house accompanied 
by a " sister," who, he said, had just arrived with 
other emigrants from England. He told me that she 
was feeling dull, and he would like her to be with 
some family of the Saints where she would feel at 
home for about two weeks. At the end of that time, 
they intended to go to Salt Lake. 

She took one of my little ones in her arms, and 
seemed, for a stranger, to fondle it with great affec- 
tion. I soon noticed that she was in tears, and my 
sympathy was instantly enlisted for her. I saw she 
had trouble on her mind, and I tried to discover the 
cause of her sorrow. She told me that she had left 
two little children at home, and was pining to see 
them. I asked her why she had left them, and she 
told me that she had been " counselled " to leave a 
good husband, a good home, and two darling little 
ones, and go to " Zion." She was perfectly wretched. 
She had nothing to complain of in her husband's con- 
duct towards her, only he did not believe in Mor- 
monism, and would not allow her to attend the 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 49 

meetings of the Saints. She had come off stealthily 
with the assurance from " the servants of God " that 
she should have her children soon. 

I told her that I did not believe she would ever see 
them again, nor did I think that she deserved to, 
unless she returned to her husband immediately and 
sought his forgiveness. She had been taught, she 
said, that it was necessary for her salvation that she 
should " gather with the Saints to Salt Lake." Her 
husband opposed her going, and as she had to leave 
unknown to him, she could not manage to get her 
children away. 

I used every means in my power to get her to re- 
turn, and tried to picture to her that once happy 
home now made desolate through her desertion ; but 
she felt that her religion required her to make the 
sacrifice, believing as she had been taught, that if she 
" sought first the kingdom of God and His righteous- 
ness," ail other things should be added unto her. 
She was, after all, very much to be pitied ; for she 
was a victim to the teachings of the elders, and she 
firmly believed that whatever they told her was the 
revelation of heaven to her. 

She left me, and I feared that she would still 
pursue her journey in despite of all that I had said 
to her ; but in about two months from that time, I 
was one morning told that a lady wished to see me. 
I was agreeably surprised to find that it was the 
runaway mother. She told me that after our conver- 
sation she could not go to Salt Lake, but had re- 
mained in St. Louis, had written to her husband and 
had made every thing right with him, and she was 



50 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 

now on her way back again to her home in England. 
She was very happy, and I rejoiced with her. 

This circumstance is given to illustrate the power 
of the teachings of the elders. To all appearances it 
could not have been a love affair, for there was no- 
thing in the look of the man that could captivate any 
woman. To be sure, there is no accounting for taste 
in matters of love, and she might have seen qualities 
in him that every one else had failed to perceive. 

Another circumstance somewhat similar to this 
came directly under my personal notice, In this 
instance the lady, whom I knew, was married very 
happily. Her husband held a very lucrative position, 
but who was at times obliged to be absent from home 
for several months together, on one occasion found it 
necessary to leave his family for nearly a year. He 
went ; but not wishing to be separated from his fami- 
ly for so long a time, he wrote to her, requesting that 
she would come out to him with her children, send- 
ing her at the same time funds necessary for that 
purpose. The brethren heard of this, and " coun- 
selled " her to go to "Zion" instead, telling her that 
if she did not go then she might not have another 
opportunity for a long time, as the country would be 
involved in war. She obeyed the " counsel," and 
without replying to her husband, left for Utah, and 
crossed the plains with her four little children, and 
arrived in " Zion" almost dead with the trials and 
difficulties she had had to encounter, not having a 
protector, and being so entirely ignorant of the na- 
ture of the journey. Her husband, who was a very 
excellent man, followed her, some time subsequent- 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. SI 

ly ; but of course he felt that he had been very badly 
treated, and it was with difficulty that he could be 
reconciled. 

All the missionaries, before they leave Utah, are in- 
structed to make no selections from the lambs of the 
flock ; and though many of them have no doubt hon- 
oured these instructions, many others have seemed to 
do little more than preach on Sundays, attend one or 
two meetings during the week, and devote the rest 
of their leisure to the " sisters" — taking them to 
theatres, public entertainments, and wherever they 
themselves were invited to visit. 

If any family invited a Utah elder to dine with 
them on any given day, if he was at all familiar with 
them, he was almost certain to bring " a sister" with 
him. This was frequently a great annoyance ; for 
instead of imparting instruction- to the family, or 
entertaining them with information about " Zion," 
his chair after dinner was almost certain to travel 
with that of the lady visitor to the neighbourhood of 
a window, or to a quiet corner, where they could 
entertain each other with soft nonsense. 

The follies of such missionaries, (though they doubt- 
less preserved themselves free from immorality,) their 
silly talk, childish amusements, nonsense, flirting, and 
extravagance with girls as silly as themselves, was a 
great stumbling-block to many a married woman at 
the introduction of the principles of Polygamy in 
England. 

At the time of my sojourn in London, there was a 
feeling of great uncertainty among the Saints about 
every thing connected with domestic relations. Ig- 



52 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



norant men preaching the doctrine of Polygamy to a 
public audience might be expected to talk a great 
deal of nonsense upon such a delicate subject, and 
that was bad enough ; but when to this was added 
the fanatical feeling about the glory of " Zion," and 
the destruction of the Gentile world within a few 
years, it was worse still. There was much anxiety 
and excitement among the Saints. It was one contin- 
ued stream of prediction that the world was to be 
devastated by wars that would destroy the greater 
portion of the men, and thus bring about a fulfilment 
of the prophecy which says that " Seven women shall 
take hold of one man." The women were to become 
so urgent in their importunities for marriage, that 
they would gladly promise to " eat their own bread 
and wear their own apparel ;" and all they would ask 
would be the privilege of being called by some man's 
name, to " take away their reproach." 

With such preaching, Sunday after Sunday, it is not 
to be wondered at that the Saints became bewildered, 
scarcely knowing what to do. One thing alone they 
knew : that they were to " flee to Zion," and get all 
their marital relations settled in the " Endowment 
House," so that every woman should have a husband 
who could " save her," and every man have all the 
wives and children that he could gather round him, 
before the " great day of wrath, and the coming of 
the Lord." 

One of the most popular axioms of the elders at 
that time was, " It is better to be the mate of a ship 
of war than the captain of a schooner." This was 
well understood by the sisters to mean that it was 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 53 

better to be 07ie of the wives of a great man in " the 
kingdom," than to be the only wife of a little man. 
It was of no consequence how kind a husband might 
be to his wife and family ; if he was not also abound- 
ing with zeal, and full of talk in the meetings, he was 
very little esteemed. Many a silly woman has been 
carried away by such nonsense till she scarcely knew 
what she was doing or wanted to do. She probably 
loved her husband, but mourned to think that he 
could not take his stand among the favoured of the 
Lord, In the course of time, her regrets would grow 
into discontent ; and when some raving, enthusiastic 
preacher came along, she was ready to form the con- 
clusion that she ought to hasten to Zion ; and thus, 
from one step to the other, she was soon on her way 
to Utah, with her children, if she could, or without 
them if she could do no better. 

This was the period when Polygamy was intro- 
duced, and that was the spirit of the times when I 
made my visit to London, preparatory to going to 
" Zion." 

The following are one or two of about a dozen 
verses of Mormon " poetry," once extremely popular 
among the " Saints," and which certainly express 
very truly their sentiments at the time of which I 
speak : 

* * * * * 

" The time the prophet saw is on the wing, 
When seven women to one man shall cling. 

" Not for the lack of clothing or of bread, 
But for a husband — a man — a head ! 
To obviate reproach and share his name, 
As to be single then will be a shame ; 



54 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



"For war will strew its victims o'er the plain, 
And maddened men rush heedless to be slain ; 
A man shall be more precious in the land 
Than golden wedges from the Ophir strand. 

"If you perchance among the worthies stand, 
And seven women claim your saving hand, 
Do not reject the six and save the one, 
And boast of magnanimity when done." 

Doggerel, no better than this, and much of it a 
great deal worse, might be heard in almost every 
meeting of the " Saints." 



CHAPTER VII. 



Mormon Life in London — " Counselled " to go to Salt Lake Valley 
— Sickness and Annoyances — Doubts and Fears — Faith wavering 
— Loneliness in the Great City — "The dear American Brethren" — 
Preparations for leaving England. 

Mr. M., the Mormon President in London, was 
constantly in receipt of letters from Salt Lake during 
the time of our residence in his house ; and I ob- 
served that he acted in a very mysterious manner 
with them. He would read them to my husband 
when he thought that they were alone, and conceal 
them when I came into the room. This made me 
resolve to see these letters, if possible. I mentioned 
this to Mrs. M., and she volunteered to get them for 
me. What I discovered I have no right to reveal 
now, just as I had then no right (although through 
the kindness of this lady they had been placed in my 
hands) to pry into them. Suffice it, however, to say 
that they set me thinking, and the more I thought 
the worse I felt. I was bewildered and wretched, 
losing confidence in myself and in every thing. In 
fact, I had not enough experience to rely upon my 
own judgment, and my husband was a slave to Mor- 
monism ; but from what I had read in those letters 
about the teachings in Utah, and from my observa- 
tion of the conduct of the American brethren, I 
began to feel the greatest horror of going out to Salt 
Lake. I knew it was decided that we should go in 



56 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



the spring, and the thought made me very melan- 
choly. 

At this time — Christmas Day, 1854 — my fourth 
child was born. When he was three weeks old, my 
second daughter was taken very ill. I mention these 
things for reasons which will soon be apparent to the 
reader. 

I had now another — a real and tangible trouble 
added to the grief caused by my previous forebodings 
respecting the future, which I have already described. 
My child was very ill indeed. Her life was even 
despaired of, and in my then weak state I felt this 
additional trial all the more. 

When the time arrived for us to prepare for emi- 
gration, it seemed to me impossible for us even to 
think of such a thing. The reader will understand 
this when I remind him that we had four little chil- 
dren — the youngest only a month old — and one dan- 
gerously ill. The Utah brethren knew my state of 
mind, for I had talked with them very freely about 
the matter. It was therefore suspected that I was 
not willing to emigrate, and perhaps might even re- 
fuse to do so. This was an entire mistake ; for I had 
not yet arrived at the feeling that I could reject 
Mormonism altogether and throw off my connexion 
with that faith. How often, afterwards, I wished it 
had been so ! 

Had I then been as devoted a Mormon as I was a 
few months previously, I know that I should have 
made a greater effort to go. But, although I still 
clung to that religion, my faith was already under- 
mined ; I was soulless and dispirited. 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



57 



One day Mr. M. came home and said to me : — 
" Mrs. Stenhouse, it has been decided to ' counsel ' 
your husband to emigrate without you if you will not 
immediately get ready. I thought I would let you 
know this much, although it is not right for me to 
relate what takes place in council. But/' he con- 
tinued, " I think it is villainous with this sick child 
on your hands and a young babe, to require you to 
do so. Yet, what can be done ? Their plan is this : 
Your husband, if he finds you will not go, is to get 
ready and leave for Liverpool ; and, as soon as he is 
gone, I shall be instructed to tell you that I need the 
rooms you now occupy, and that you must leave 
directly. You will be puzzled in the midst of your 
trouble to know what to do. Then some of the 
brethren will be at hand to send you after your hus- 
band, and you will be very glad to go ; for you will 
have no choice, and will be ready to do any thing to 
get out of your troubles." 

Oh ! I can not tell how indignant I was when I 
heard this. I utterly loathed and detested every one 
of them ; and I walked about the room so full of 
contending emotions that it was some time before I 
could utter a word. At last I was able to speak, and 
I said : — " Mr. M , would you send me away ?" 

" If they 4 counsel 9 me to do so/' he replied, " I 
shall have to do it." 

" Can you not, or have you not enough courage to 
oppose a thing you know to be wrong ?" I enquired. 

" If I did so," said he, " I should get into trouble." 

He knew me too well to suppose that I should 
repeat what he said while it could harm him ; nor 



58 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 

would I now have written so much had he remained 
a Mormon. 

" Now," said I, " I shall tell them that I will not 
go in my present condition ; nor will I ! If my hus- 
band wishes to take their counsel and go, he may go 
alone ; and they shall see that I will not follow him 
now or ever after." I was greatly excited as I said 
this. 

When Mr. S. returned home, I told him what had 
been said ; but, as he agreed with me in believing 
that it was impossible for me to go with our sick 
child, that settled it for the present. The elders 
visited me and talked with me until I was nearly 
worried to death. They made Mr. M. give us notice 
to leave his apartments purely on that account ; and 
I had to move our sick child in cold, damp weather, 
just as she was getting better. As might be ex- 
pected, she caught cold and had a relapse, and we 
despaired of her ever recovering. 

I was now so worn out with care and anxiety and 
watching my sick child that my health began to fail, 
and I grew weaker and weaker. My little one was, 
however, now becoming better. She had been sick 
for more than two months ; and I myself alone had 
carefully tended her during all that period, at the 
same time having the charge and nursing of my 
young babe. All the help I had was the assistance 
of a girl, a mere child, only twelve years of age. 

My husband having frequently to preach at a dis- 
tance, was now a great deal from home, and I led 
a lonely life. I was, in fact, buried alive in the vast 
wilderness of London ; and nothing can be more 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 59 

desolate than the feeling of loneliness in the midst of 
a great city. Left to my own melancholy thoughts 
about Polygamy and the reported teachings in Utah, 
my confidence in the authorities of the church was 
most terribly shaken, and I dreaded worse than death 
going to Salt Lake City. This so preyed upon my 
mind that my health was fast failing, and I was un- 
able to walk across the room or hold my infant in my 
arms. 

My physician told me that he did not know what 
was the matter with me ; and twice, when visiting 
me, he urged me to confide in him, that he might be 
able to benefit me. He said that I had no disease, 
yet I was failing fast. I could not tell him of the 
sorrow that was eating my life away. I never knew 
what he said to my husband ; but, immediately after 
consultation, I was sent to the West End of London 
with a nurse, hoping by this slight change to recruit 
my health, and a kind friend took charge of my chil- 
dren. I did not care much what was done with me, 
for I fully believed that I was going to die. 

I had not been away more than a week when Mr. 
S. came to tell me that he had been notified that a 
ship would sail from Liverpool in the course of two 
weeks from that time, and that it was expected that 
we should sail in her. 

I did not feel that this was possible ; but the fact 
of Mr. S. speaking to me about it, showed me that he 
particularly wished to go, and I resolved to make the 
attempt. We ordered a carriage and I went to my 
apartment, leaving my babe with the nurse. Mr. S., 
after taking me to the house, left me, and I began to 



6o 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



pack a trunk. Before I -had been busy ten minutes, 
I fainted ; but how long I remained in that condition 
I cannot tell. When Mr. S. returned and found that 
I was so very ill, he telegraphed to Liverpool to say 
that I was not well enough to make the journey. A 
telegram was returned : — " Bring her along, and she 
will get better." But Mr. S. had a little independence 
left, and we did not go. 

The summer passed very drearily, as Mr. S. was 
away from home nearly all the time, lecturing in dif- 
ferent places. My children were too young to be 
companions, and the Mormons rather shunned me, 
because of my weakness in the faith. The young 
sisters did not like to hear me talk about those " dear 
American Brethren," and therefore they stayed 
away. I had, however, a few particular friends, and 
I felt that that was sufficient. And yet it was my 
husband's society that I yearned for, and this fearful 
Mormonism always deprived me of that. I could 
not, therefore, feel happy ; for when he was away 
from me, I was always imagining some dreadful thing, 
which afterwards proved to have had no foundation 
in truth. I was doubtful of every thing now. This 
was the beautiful result of my religion ! 

I fear that by this time the reader may begin to 
think that I must be of a very unhappy temperament, 
But this is not exactly the truth. Until the time 
when the horrors of apprehension respecting the 
doctrine of Polygamy began to weigh upon my mind, 
I had always been looked upon as a cheerful, light- 
hearted, and hopeful girl. But there was a canker- 
worm gnawing continually at my heart now. Hope 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 6 1 

had died out. I felt that I was doomed for time and 
for eternity, and sometimes it seemed to me impos- 
sible that I should pray to a God who could make 
such unjust laws. How could I teach my little ones 
to love Him ? 

How different to me were these ideas of God and 
of His truth, from the feelings and sentiments which 
were mine when a girl ! Then I could look around 
upon the beauties of nature and see the hand of God 
in every thing, while my soul would be filled with 
joy and gladness ; my only anxiety being to know 
what I should do to become acceptable in His sight. 
But now I saw no beauty in any thing. Nothing 
had power to divert me from my sad thoughts. 

Mormonism to me at that time was a melancholy 
fact. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



We emigrate to America — New York — The Mormon — An "Apos- 
tle," two "High-Priests," and a "Seventy," and what they did — 
Polygamy in New York — Disarrangement of Plans — We set out for 
"Zion" — The Utah Elders choose other Wives — Three Months on 
the Plains— First Glimpse of " The City of Saints." 

About the middle of November, 1855, we sailed 
from Liverpool, with several hundred Mormons, for 
New York, where we landed on the last day of the 
year. 

Before we left England, Mr. Stenhouse concluded 
that ten years' constant missionary service, without 
fee or reward, and living in the dependent condition 
that I have related, was all that the church had any 
right to expect of him, especially as his family was 
growing up, and would soon demand more than daily 
bread. It was his purpose to seek in the New World 
any occupation for which he might be fitted. 

He regretted that the vessel we were to sail in was 
to land us at New York ; but in emigration, as in 
every thing else in Mormonism, the priesthood dic- 
tate ; and to have sailed in any other vessel would 
have been evidence of want of faith and a good spirit. 
He would have preferred almost any other seaport, as 
he wished to avoid the Mormon newspaper office ; for 
he had an idea that he might possibly be called to 
associate himself with it in some way, and that again 



WHAT T KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



63 



would be a renewal of missionary life. The very 
thing he dreaded came upon him. 

Our residence in New York, while Mr. S. was as- 
sociate editor of the Mormon, was characterized by 
extreme poverty. But, with all the luxuries in the 
world around me, my spectre — Polygamy — would 
have spoiled them all. 

There were four brethren from Utah at that time 
in New York — an " Apostle," two " High-Priests,'' 
and a " Seventy." The last was much like myself in 
faith ; and, on his return to Utah, he settled up his 
affairs, and, with his family, left the country. The 
High-Priests picked up each a young lady, to whom 
they were married after they returned to the moun- 
tains ; but the Apostle was favoured with a special 
dispensation from Brigham Young, and took his sixth 
wife — a very amiable young lady, then living in Con- 
necticut. They occupied a pleasant house in East- 
Brooklyn, and had all the comforts and endearments 
of home while on mission. 

The "Apostle" was well used to the polygamic 
business, and suffered no inconvenience on returning 
home with his youngest bride ; but the High-Priests 
realized the truth of the adage, that the course of 
true love does not always run smooth. The first 
wife of one of them kept him at a respectful distance 
from her " bed and board," and the first wife of the 
other kept her younger rival at an equally respectful 
distance from herself. The first " High-Priest" has 
" gone to heaven," and the second High-Priest had, 
in course of time, to give a bill of divorce to his 
young wife. They were all three good girls, and ac- 



64 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY". 



cepted their copartnership in matrimony as purely 
for the sake of their faith as ever women could do. 
What happiness they have had in it they best know ; 
but the young widow seems the most contented of 
the three. 

The difficulty in Utah in 1857 brought the Mor- 
mon to a close, and, with its expiration, my poverty 
vanished. Mr. S. was now at liberty to do as he 
pleased, and his pen found ready remuneration on 
the staff of the New- York Herald. 

The settlement of the " Utah Difficulty" in 1858 
threatened another change in our life. Mr. S. was 
appointed by Brigham Young to preside over the 
Saints in the Eastern States ; but he had got a 
taste of freedom, and he never afterwards was wholly 
engaged in the propagation of Mormonism. 

In the following year, Elder George Q. Cannon, 
now the prominent Apostle in Utah, was appointed 
to succeed Mr. Stenhouse ; and, at the end of the 
emigration season of that year, we were permitted to 
go to " Zion." 

Our journey across the plains occupied three 
months, and we experienced the same vicissitudes of 
travel as other emigrants who have already told their 
tale. 

It was the month of September — the commence- 
ment of our beautiful Indian summer — when we 
emerged from the canon and caught sight of Salt 
Lake City. Every thing looked green and lovely ; 
and, in spite of all the sad forebodings which troubled 
me in crossing the plains, I involuntarily exclaimed, 
" Ah ! what a glorious spot !" It looked like a beautiful 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 65 

garden — another Eden — in the midst of a desert val- 
ley. We had a glimpse of the Great Salt Lake, far 
away in the distance, stretching out like a placid 
sheet of molten silver, while everywhere were the 
lofty and lonely-looking snow-capped mountains, 
which entirely encircled us, like mighty prison walls. 

It would be impossible for me to describe my feel- 
ings at that time. Even while I was enchanted with 
the glorious prospect before me, there arose again in 
my mind that haunting spectre of my existence — 
Polygamy ! I remembered that this little earthly 
paradise would probably be to me a prison-house ; 
and with a mothers instinct, I dreaded what my 
daughters might be destined to suffer there. Lovely 
as the scene was, there was yet a fatal shadow over- 
hanging it all. 

If the sad forebodings of my heart were realized, I 
could see no prospect of ever getting away. As to 
having a railroad across those plains — that seemed to 
me utterly impossible. Even if I had ever thought 
for a moment that such a work could be carried out, 
I never should have believed that it could be accom- 
plished in my own lifetime. No ! there was no help 
for me — even if it came to the worst. 

I felt that my doom was sealed ; and many another 
woman in the company was troubled at heart with 
thoughts as sad as mine. 

What living contradictions we were ! — singing the 
songs of Zion night and morning in a circle, and lis- 
tening to prayers of thankfulness for being permitted 
to gather out of Babylon ; and during the day, as we 
trudged along over the plains, in twos and threes, we 



66 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



were expressing to each other the bitterness of our 
thoughts. How little, sometimes, do the songs of 
gladness reflect the sentiments of the heart ! Have 
I not heard many a woman sing, to the tune of the 
" Bonnie Breast-knots," the sweet though untruthful 
song, " Hey, the merry Mormons !" 

" I never knew what joy was 
Till I became a Mormon !" 

My edition of the song was slightly changed. I sub- 
stituted sorrow for "joy," and then the words seemed 
more applicable to my own case. 

We were kindly received in Salt Lake City. Hav- 
ing been missionaries for so many years, we were 
known by name ; and we also had a wide circle 
of personal acquaintances among the chief Elders 
and emigrants. It was now that that fearful Polyga- 
my, which I so much dreaded, was to be brought be- 
fore my eyes in practice. 

Almost all the elders with whom I had formerly 
become acquainted had more than one wife. Some 
of these brethren called on me, and kindly insisted 
that I should visit their families, which I, in many 
instances, refused, for fear that what I might see 
would make me feel worse, and that was not at all 
necessary. 

Shortly after our arrival, we visited President 
Young, who received us very graciously, and ap- 
pointed an early day after that for us to dine with 
him. On that occasion, he invited some of the apos- 
tles and leading elders, with their families, to meet 
us at his table ; and we passed an exceedingly plea- 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 67 

sant afternoon and evening, Brigham making himself 
very affable. His wives, I found, were all, as far as 
I could judge, amiable and kind-hearted ladies, mak- 
ing every effort to render our visit agreeable. I was 
much pleased with the manner and appearance of 
Brigham Young, and felt greatly reassured ; and I 
began to hope that there was no truth in the reports 
which I had heard of him while in London. I was 
thankful to feel this, for it gave me encouragement 
to think that, after all, things might not be so bad as 
I had anticipated. Brigham to-day does not seem 
the same man ! I have no doubt that if he were 
to deign to read this little work, he would say, " It is 
Sister Stenhouse who has changed, not me." I would 
give much to believe that some of the facts of Utah 
history were but an idle dream ! 

During that visit, Brigham hinted to Mr. S. some- 
thing about another mission ; and when we got home, 
Mr. S. asked me how I should feel if he were sent 
away again. After all that we had gone through for 
Mormonism, I thought that this would be exacting 
too much ; but Mr. S. was ready, and really began to 
plan how he could secure bread for us during his ab- 
sence — the butter I should have had to provide my- 
self, or go without ; but he soon became very useful 
with his pen, and, therefore, was not sent away. 



CHAPTER IX. 



Life in Utah — Polygamy in Practice — The first Wife to be "Destroy- 
ed," unless she " consents" — Deceptive Teaching about taking a 
second Wife — The Mormon Plan — " Labouring" with refractory 
Wives — Elderly Ladies assisting in Courtship — A first Wife's Trials 
— Anomalies of Polygamic Life. 

I was now in the chief city of" Zion" — the dwelling- 
place of the Prophet and the principal Saints, which 
every good Mormon longed so earnestly to see. I 
had suffered very much, as I anticipated the time 
when we should arrive in Utah, and my fears of the 
future had long banished all peace from my mind. 
Now I had an apportunity of learning whether the 
evils which I dreaded really existed, or whether I 
had too credulously listened to scandalous reports, 
and the promptings of my own womanly apprehen- 
sions. 

I had the daily and hourly cares of a young and 
dependent family devolving upon me, and, of course, 
had not much leisure for any thing else. At the 
same time I had abundant opportunities of observa- 
tion, and thus my experience of Mormonism and 
Polygamy in Utah is much the same as that which 
any woman of ordinary sense could tell, if she had 
the inclination and opportunity. 

When Polygamy was first taught in Europe and in 
the United States, great stress was laid upon the 
assertion that in no case would any man be allowed 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 69 



to take a second or third wife without (as they 
wished it to be supposed) the entire consent and 
approval of the first. This statement, though false 
and deceptive, naturally silenced the fears of many 
women who would otherwise have opposed the doc- 
trine ; for they were deceived into thinking that, as 
their husbands could not take another wife without 
first consulting them and obtaining their permission to 
do so, it would always be in their power to refuse ; 
and thus they supposed they would not themselves 
be practically affected by Polygamy until their own 
faith prompted them to consent. I need not say 
how greatly they were deceived. The elders have 
been often accused of deception in thus explaining 
away the doctrine to the women. But it seems to 
me that, although they were not right in doing so, it 
is very probable that they were influenced by good 
and kind motives. The fact is, many of the elders 
were much better men than their religion taught 
them to be ; and when the " revelations" which they 
had to teach were harsh or unjust, they would try to 
adapt them to the weakness of their hearers, and put 
them in as pleasant a way as possible. Such was the 
case when the revelation on Polygamy was introduced. 
The theory of plural marriages in Utah is this : 
When a Mormon husband desires to take another 
wife, the prescribed formula requires (i) that the 
Lord give a revelation to Brigham Young that He 
approves of the proposed extension of the man's 
family ; next, (2) that the would-be patriarch obtain 
the " consent" of the first wife to take another ; then 
(3) he is to obtain the consent of the parents or guar- 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



dians of the selected damsel, so that he can address 
her in loving terms respecting his devotion to God, 
His kingdom, and herself personally ; and (4) he 
must secure the acquiescence of the damsel. Should 
" the Lord " * veto the proposition, the suit is ended. 
Should " the Lord " approve and the wife disapprove, 
no further advance can be made. Should the parents 
withhold consent, " the Lord " and the wife are held 
in check." Finally, if they are all agreed and the 
maiden objects, then the approval of all the other 
consenting parties is set aside. That is the theory. 

But there is no truth in all these statements — not 
a particle. Without the consent and approval of 
Brigham Young, no patriarchal marriage can be con- 
summated ; with his approval, that of the wife, the 
parents, and the girl herself can all be dispensed 
with. 

Cases are not few to sustain these assertions. 
Many a maiden has been married without the con- 
sent of her parents ; and others have " obeyed coun- 
sel," when they had no heart in the matter — then or 
ever after. 

The " Revelation on Polygamy" was written by the 
scribe of Joseph Smith, from the prophet's dictation, 
after he had already taken other " wives." It is 
worded so as to have at one moment the appearance 

* On one occasion, when a Mormon gentleman from Liverpool was 
expressing to one of the Apostles his dissatisfaction about something, 
he remarked, " Surely the Lord would not sanction this !" Where- 
upon the Apostle, touching him on the arm, pointed to the White 
House, where Brigham Young resided, and emphatically remarked, 
"Your 'Lord' resides up there !" 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



71 



of a fair and proper understanding between the hus- 
band and wife whenever the former entertained the 
idea of taking to himself another bride ; and yet, 
when viewed in another light, it has quite an oppo- 
site sense, and tries to terrify the first wife, if disobe- 
dient, with threats of the wrath of God. 

When a woman's " consent " is asked, she knows 
very- well that she will have to give it — if she is not 
prepared to live in open warfare with her husband. 
She knows, too, that he will take that other wife in- 
dependently of her, and she is powerless to prevent 
it. She may as well consent. But some brave wo- 
men have never given their consent, and have never 
allowed the second wife to enter their homes. Some 
refined ladies, with excellent families, have had the 
happiest of homes destroyed by withholding their 
consent ; and where peace and warm affection were 
proverbial, the bitterest strife ensued. 

The men who have acted in this way are not the 
gross and ignorant brethren, but more often the par- 
ticularly " pious" men, who make long prayers in their 
families, who preach in the ward meetings, and in 
the Tabernacle; men of smooth words, with the 
I name of the Lord always upon their lips. These are 
the men who have mercilessly wrung the hearts of 
the wives of Utah. What to such men are a wife's 
tears and sorrows ? Nothing. 

If the wife shows " temper," it makes it only worse. 
He wants peace, so he says ; and if he can not find it 
there, it furnishes him with the better excuse for go- 
! ing back again to his younger wife — just where he 
wants to go ! 



72 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



Aiding and abetting these brethren, and encour- 
aging them in multiplying their wives, there is a 
class of good-meaning sisters who are always dab- 
bling in other people's affairs, and making love- 
matches. These go round from one unhappy victim 
to another, and talk to the poor, broken-hearted wo- 
men, to soothe and comfort them ; and before they 
go away they give them the very pleasing assurance 
that woman was cursed in the Garden of Eden, and 
that 

"We've all got the cross for to bear. 5 ' * 

They are " laboured with" in the interest of the 
husband till they are, in most cases, entirely subdued. 

If a woman gets " broken in," or " tamed," the hus- 
band rfejoices, and the " sisters" " join in prayer," re- 
lating in the subjugated woman's ears all the blessings 
of " obedience," and the great glory that awaiteth all 
who live in the holy order of " celestial marriage." 
When their work is complete, it is fortunate for all 
parties ; but a dose of that kind generally only lasts 

* The following is from the New -York World, November 14th, 
1871:— 

Reporter — What is really the position of the women on the ques- 
tion of Polygamy ? 

Mr. Ferris — They are generally subject to what may be called a 
forced lead, by the older women — those who are childless, and the 
others who seem to be entirely without maternal instincts. These 
go about among the mass of better women, talk to them, impress 
upon them the practice as a religious duty, even necessary to their 
salvation ; get them to sign papers in its favour, and, if they hesi- 
tate, threaten to expose them as having become dangerously weak in 
the faith. That is the way an appearance of unanimity in favour of 
Polygamy is maintained. 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 73 

till the first wife gets a glimpse again of the second 
wife, or hears about her and her husband going to- 
gether to the theatre or to the dance. Then " the 
devil/' who was only scotched, is " raised " again ; and 
before he can be finally " laid," the whole affair has 
to be repeated from the beginning, and in many cases 
the experiment has to be tried again and again before 
the desired results are produced, and not infrequently 
this labour of love is a total failure, when a bitterness 
ensues which is unknown outside of polygamic house- 
holds. 

When kindness fails to " soften down" the rebel- 
lious wife, then wrath is poured into her ears, and 
she learns from the revelation that " If any man have 
a wife who hold the keys of this power, and he teach- 
es her the law of my priesthood, as pertaining to 
these things, then she shall believe, and administer 
unto him, or she shall be destroyed, saith the Lord 
your God, for I will destroy her? 

This is a beautiful position for any loving wife to 
be placed in ! Her husband is to teach her Polyga- 
my, and she must believe ; for it is distinctly said, 
" She shall believe." But should she lack evidence 
of the truth of the revelation, and can not believe in 
its divinity, then " She shall- be destroyed ;" and the 
Lord, like a kind and loving father, adds, " I will de- 
stroy her." What language to place in the mouth of 
a kind and loving God and Father ! How opposite 
is this to the teachings of Jesus Christ ! But it is in 
keeping with the other teachings of the Mormon 
Church. Mormonism taught me to look upon the 
great Ruler of the Universe as a " God of vengeance," 



74 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 

while every thing in nature has taught me that He is 
a " God of love." 

So repugnant has this teaching of the Lord's ven- 
geance been to the women in Utah, who oppose 
Polygamy, that many of them have the utmost dis- 
gust for religion, and care as little about " the Lord " 
as they do about their husbands. 

How little do the Mormon men of Utah know 
what it is, in the truest sense, to have a wife, though 
they have so many " wives," after their own fashion. 
, Almost imperceptibly to the husband, and even to 
the wife herself, a barrier rises between them from 
the very day that he marries another woman. It 
matters not how much she believes in the doctrine of 
plural marriages, or how willing she may be to sub- 
mit to it ; the fact remains the same. J The estrange- 
ment begins by her trying to hide from him all her 
secret sorrow ; for she feels that what has been done 
can not be undone now, and she says, " I can not 
change it ; neither would I if I could, because it is the 
will of God, and I must bear it ; besides, what good 
will it do to worry my husband with all my feelings ? 
He can not help me, and is he not another woman's 
husband ?" 

Then comes the painful feeling, " I have no longer 
any desire to confide in him." 

Perhaps, too, she may detect some familiarity be- 
tween her husband and the other wife. Then she 
would feel full of anger and bitterness toward them 
both, and, strive as she may, human nature would 
prevail. 

His presence becomes irksome to her ; even his 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY, 



75 



touch would make her shudder. And yet she might 
hide all this ; but with what anguish of soul ! She 
might keep up a calm exterior, and when spoken to 
about plural marriages, might lead persons to believe 
that all was pleasant ; and even her own husband 
might think that his wife had become " used to it." 
Don't you believe it, men of Utah ! Your wives 
never get " used to it " until they have, in a great 
measure, or perhaps entirely, lost their love for you. 

When this little book falls into the hands of some 
of the women of Utah, they will, I know, acknowledge 
in their hearts, if not in words, how true my state- 
ments are. A man may have a dozen wives ; but 
from the whole of them combined he will not receive 
as much real love and devotion as he might from one 
alone, if he had made her feel that she had his undi- 
vided affection and confidence. How terribly these 
men deceive themselves ! When peace, or rather 
quiet, reigns in their homes, they think that the 
spirit of God is there. But it is not so ! It is a calm, 
not like the gentle silence of sleep, but as the horri- 
ble stillness of death — the death of the heart's best 
affections, and all that is worth calling love. All true 
love has fled, and indifference has taken its place. 
The very children feel it. What do they — what can 
they care about their fathers ? They seldom see 
them. I am writing now of polygamists in general. 
Of course there are exceptions to this rule. 

When a man has more than one wife, his affections 
must certainly be divided ; and he really has no 
particular home, for his homes are simply boarding- 
houses. Should he have all his wives in one house, 



76 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



as is often the case, then they are all slaves ; for they 
know that each one is watching the others, and in 
many instances trying to discover something that 
they can secretly tell their husband, to draw away 
his affections from the rest, and secure them to them- 
selves. 

There are again other women, frequently the first 
and second wives, who become friendly to each other. 
When this is the case, they care very little for the hus- 
band. They set their faces against the third, and the 
others who come after. The poor girl is to be pitied, 
and the husband, too, who ventures to bring her home ; 
for the two friendly wives are sure to lead her and 
him a terrible life. The man who enters this most 
delightful order of marriage ought not to allow his 
wives to become too intimate, for they will certainly 
plot mischief, and destroy his power and peace. The 
more they hate each other, the more secure he is. 

But what a state of mind is this for mothers to be 
in ! And if children partake of the nature and feel- 
ings of their mothers, what kind of dispositions can 
these poor children inherit, whose mothers have been 
the victims of these strong and fearful emotions ? 
Oh ! it is a cruel wrong to womankind ; it is a terri- 
ble wrong to innocent children ! It is a most wicked 
wrong, in every sense of the word ! 



/ 



CHAPTER X. 

Shocking Effects of Polygamy — Marrying a Half-Sister — A Mother and 
Daughter married to one Man — Marrying three Sisters in one Day — 
" Covenants of Marriage" — A deluded " Sister" — Her Persecutor 
—Influence of Elders — Mistaken Ideas of Duty — Another " Sister" 
betrayed — Men unhappy in Polygamy. 

The practice of Polygamy in some instances results 
in alliances which among all civilized peoples would 
be considered equally unnatural, immoral, and op- 
posed to the dictates of religion. 

It is quite a common thing in Utah for a man to 
marry two, and even three sisters. I was very well 
acquainted with one man who married his half-sister ; 
and I know of several who have married mother and 
daughter.^ I know also another man who married a 
widow with several children ; and when one of the 
girls had grown into her teens, he insisted on marry- 
ing her, having first by some means won her affec- 
tions. The lady, however, was, I am pleased to say, 
very much opposed to this marriage, and finally gave 
up her husband entirely to her daughter ; but to this 
very day this daughter bears children to her step- 
father, living in the same house with her mother ! 
These things are so revolting to me that I have 
scarcely patience to write about them. 

I will, however, mention another instance which 
is nearly as bad. A rather prominent man in Salt 



78 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



Lake City, who has several wives and married daugh- 
ters, only a few weeks ago married a young girl about 
fifteen years of age — a child that his first wife had 
adopted and brought up as her own. It is said to be 
a source of great sorrow to his first wife. Such men 
deserve punishment ; for there is no shadow of 
religious obligation in the transaction. I know that 
he has next to no faith in Brigham Young. 

But there is a pleasing change noticeable in the 
plural marriages in Salt Lake. There are not nearly 
so many marriages of this kind among the actual 
citizens of Salt Lake City as there were three or 
four years ago. The girls, although they will tell 
you that they believe it is right, will also say that 
they would rather do with " a little less glory" here- 
after and take a little more comfort here. Many at 
the same time do not hesitate to say that they are 
altogether doubtful about the propriety of such mar- 
riages, for the doctrine and practice of Polygamy 
have made such bad men of their fathers and such 
victims of their mothers. 

It is not our city girls who maintain so much the 
plural marriages ; but it is chiefly the newly arrived 
English and country girls who supply the Patriarchs. 

The American Elders have derived a rich harvest 
from Britain for many years past. Soon after the 
introduction of Polygamy, an elder was seldom 
known to return from his mission to England with- 
out arranging there for one, sometimes two, and I 
have known as many as three girls — and these own 
sisters also — brought out at one time and all married 
by the same man. I personally know several men 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



79 



who have done so, but, on account of their families, 
I do not wish to mention their names. 

The elders are not permitted to marry these extra 
wives while engaged on their missions in foreign 
countries, but are counselled to wait till they return 
" home." Some of these weak brothers, however, 
have not been able to wait for the ceremonies of the 
" Endowment House." It is but just to add that they 
do marry them when they get to " Zion." 

Some elders have bound the foreign girls by 
solemn vows or covenants to become their wives 
when they get to Utah ; and the poor girls, believing 
that these men, because they were missionaries, were 
justified in all they did, have many times, to their 
great injury, kept those " covenants" and married 
them. One young lady, on her arrival in Salt Lake 
City, came to my house to live, and after she had 
been with me about a week, I noticed that a married 
man came very frequently to see her. As I took a 
great interest in her, I questioned her, and advised 
her not to enter rashly into any marriage. She was 
a very handsome and a good girl, and she assented 
to the propriety of what I said. But the visitor still 
continued to come, and I observed that the girl be- 
came very much depressed and unhappy, and I fre- 
quently found her in tears. I then determined to 
inquire into the matter, for I had heard so much of 
the elders binding women by these covenants; and I 
found that in this case the man had persecuted her 
with his attentions and protestations of undying love, 
and his power to " exalt " her in the kingdom of God, 
until he had exacted from her a promise to become 



80 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 

his wife. Not contented with her simple promise, 
for he knew that she did not really love him, he framed 
an oath and made her repeat it after him. She would 
not tell me the nature of the oath, for she said it was 
too dreadful to repeat. She said that since she had 
taken this vow she had become perfectly wretched, 
and could not tell what to do. 

I advised her to go to President Young about it ; 
for I knew that he had publicly told the Eiders that 
they were not to make these covenants, and I 
thought that he was too honourable a man to see a 
helpless girl imposed upon, She did not like to go 
and see him, and said that she was ashamed of hav- 
ing made such a covenant ; " besides," she added, 
"no matter what the President might say, I know 
that the Lord would curse me if I were to break that 
covenant." As she did not lodge at my house, I 
could not keep her out of this man's company as 
much as I wished ; and he, knowing that delays are 
dangerous, lost no time in accomplishing his wishes. 
She had no relations, and was therefore entirely in 
his power. 

One Friday evening I asked Mr. Stenhouse to in- 
vite her to accompany us to a ball, and she gladly 
accepted, as she had refused to go with her tor- 
menter, and she hoped that it would offend him. 
Next day she did not make her appearance as usual, 
and I became alarmed, for Saturday is the day on 
which they marry at the " Endowment House." I 
sent to her friend's house where she slept, and they 
replied that she had gone to be married. 

In the afternoon she came to me looking the pic- 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



81 



ture of wretchedness, and said, " Mrs. Stenhouse, 
last night at the ball, that man brought Presi- 
dent to me and told him that I had promised to 

marry him, and now would not do so. President 

said, 1 If you have promised, keep your covenant/ I 
have fulfilled my covenant, but I have wrecked my 
happiness, for I cannot bear the man I have married. 
I have told him so," she continued, " but he does not 
care about it." I even then begged of her to let me 
see President Young, and consult with him, that if 
possible something might be done to assist her out 
of her trouble. But she would not let me do so ; and 
it was evident that the man had acquired such a 
terrifying influence over her that she really believed 
she would be lost for ever if she did not literally 
fulfil the covenant which she had made. This was 
one case that came particularly under my notice. 
But I have frequently heard of such follies and das- 
tardly impositions upon young and inexperienced 
girls. 

Another young lady, a very near and dear friend, 
was crossing the plains to Utah, when she met with 
one of the elders, who had been on a mission and 
was returning. They became quite intimate, as 
people did at that time when taking so long a journey 
together ; and he proposed marriage to her. At the 
same time he used all his eloquence to show her how 
much better it would be to marry a man who held 
such a high position in the church as he held. He 
managed to convince her, and then persuaded her to 
enter into a covenant with him by which she would 
be bound to marry him. 



82 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 

Upon their arrival in Utah, he took her straight to 
his home, fearing, I suppose, that some one else 
might get her ; for at that time young girls did not 
long remain single, and she was a very fine-looking 
girl and very clever with her needle. She would, 
therefore, have made a desirable addition to any 
man's family ; but when she saw the home he took 
her to, she was horrified, and made up her mind to 
escape. But he had got her there, and as she knew 
no one in the country, she felt that there was no pos- 
sibility of escape. 

When I arrived in Salt Lake City, I made enquiry 
about all this, as I had a right to, and found that he 
had actually frightened her into marrying him by 
making her believe that the curse of heaven would 
rest upon her if she were to break that covenant ; 
and she passed a most wretched life, raising a family 
in abject poverty. 

I would not have my reader^ think that I wish to 
say unkind things of the men of Utah, for I do not 
feel unkindly towards them. I once felt as if I per- 
fectly hated the whole of the male sex, so great was 
my indignation. But now it is different ; for I am a 
free woman, and therefore happy. How delightful is 
the sense of liberty ! Oh ! that all the women of Utah 
could feel as I do this day. My object is not to 
decry or speak evil of individuals. I simply want to 
show what men will do when under the influence of 
superstition, and how it will destroy the finest feel- 
ings of their natures. 

People upon whom I could rely have told me of 
men who have unexpectedly married other wives and 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 83 

brought them home before their first wives knew 
any thing about it ; and this, simply because they 
had not courage to introduce the subject, and 
thought, as they say, that it would be best to " take 
a deep plunge and struggle out." Who can conceive 
the feelings of a wife who has been thus treated ; 
and what does a man know of woman's nature, who 
can dare to treat her so ; thinking and saying that 
" bye-and-bye she will be all right, and will get over 

it r 

Men of Utah ! don't you believe it ! Women 
never do get over such treatment. They may appear 
calm ; they may appear to forget ; but all the while 
the remembrance of their wrongs is rankling in their 
hearts against you, and is never, never forgotten. 
The more devotedly a woman loves her husband, the 
more keenly she feels any thing that is calculated to 
destroy her confidence in the man she has looked 
upon as superior to all others, and when once that con- 
fidence is destroyed, how is it to be renewed ? 

O men of Utah ! if you only knew the secret 
heart-aches of those you have vowed to love and pro- 
tect, (and I believe that many of you would guard 
and protect them from sorrow, if you could,) sift this 
matter, and know for yourselves how more than 
foolish it is for you to cast away the true and un- 
divided love of one devoted heart. Pay no attention 
to your wives when they tell you that they are happy, 
that they are satisfied. They may tell you this when 
their very hearts are breaking, simply because they 
wish to please their husbands, and, above all, to do 
the will of God. If you had the least discernment, 



84 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 

you would discover by the changed manner, the 
almost cold indifference of the loved ones, who once 
were gushing with affection, whose winning and en- 
dearing ways captivated your hearts, that something 
must be wrong. I can never believe that the great 
God created our natures, such as they are, and then 
gave us laws that would outrage them. 

I know that the Mormons would answer — " But 
you must bring your natures into subjection to the 
laws of God." I know that no human being ever 
tried harder than I did to bring my own nature into 
subjection to this so-called " law of God ;" but the 
more I saw of it, the more I loathed it, until I became 
perfectly disgusted and humiliated at being obliged 
to live in accordance with it. 



CHAPTER XI. 



Illustrations of practical Polygamy — A " Sister" in deep Affliction — 
A Husband's Cruelty — A sad End — Various and fearful Results of 
Polygamy— Brpken Hearts and Lunacy — Men "sparking" in the 
Bali-Room — Women sitting as "Wall-flowers" — Painful Memories 
— Introduced to five Wives — "Are these all you have got ?" — Ma- 
trimonial Felicities. 

Soon after my arrival in Salt Lake City, I visited 
a family where there were five wives, three of whom 
I met on my first visit. They were all three intelli- 
gent women ; but it pained me very much to see the 
sorrow depicted on the face of the first wife. She 
appeared to me to be suffering intensely while I was 
there ; for the last wife, who seemed to be a thought- 
less, lively girl, was jesting with her husband, toying 
with his hair, and fussing with him in general, in a 
manner which I felt at the time was quite out of 
place, even had she been his only wife. Under the 
circumstances, it was to me terribly offensive ; and I 
felt that, if I had been the first wife, I should have 
annihilated her, could I have done so. 

My sympathies then were all with the first wife. 
In fact, they have been always so, to a very great ex- 
tent. But I also feel deeply for young girls, who 
contract such marriages from a sincere conviction 
that they are doing what is right, and what will be 
most pleasing in the sight of God. Then there are 
women who ignore religion, and every thing else, in 



86 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 

the matter ; all they think about is getting the man 
they want. These women are devoid of principle, 
and invariably cause trouble. 

My whole soul was drawn out toward the lady 
whom I have just mentioned, when I saw how deeply 
she was suffering. I felt as if I wanted to throw my 
arms around her and speak words of comfort, if one 
in misery could console another ; and I resolved to 
become better acquainted with her. I did so, and 
we became very friendly. She told me of her sor- 
rows. She thought it was very wicked of her to feel 
as she did, but she could not help it ; and she told 
me that when she saw her husband so happy with 
the other wives, it was then that she felt most mise- 
rable, and could not hide her feelings from him. At 
those times, he would " sulk" with her, coming in and 
out of the house for days together without noticing 
her, and showing more than ever his fondness for the 
other one. She said, " I bear it as long as I can, and 
then I beg of him not to treat me so, as I can not live 
without his love." 

I asked her how she could continue to love him 
when he treated her so ? 

" O Mrs. Stenhouse ! " she said, " when he treats 
me at all kindly, I am satisfied. When he smiles on 
me, I am only too happy. When I cease to love him, 
then I must be dead ; and even then," she added, " I 
think I should love him still !" 

I felt all this very much ; and, after a few words of 
sympathy to the neglected wife, I left her. But what 
I had heard made a great impression on my mind. 
" Thank God," I said, " my husband will never act like 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



this !" In fact, I did not at that time believe that he 
would even wish to take another wife ; but I was 
soon to be undeceived. I saw this lady many times 
after the occasion which I have mentioned, and I be- 
came very much attached to her. She was a very 
sweet, intelligent little woman ; and she would often 
say to me, " I think I should like to die when my 
babe is born ; for I feel that they could do without 
me, and[ I a m only a trouble to them here. I am al- 
ways sick, because I am always unhappy." 

Ji tried to rally her out of these sad feelings, but 
my efforts availed but little. I was myself sick a few 
weeks after ; and, when I recovered, I heard that she 
was dead, and her babe also. I said, " Thank God, 
she is now at rest !" 

This is only one sad story out of many equally as 
sad. 

Some wives have gone crazy, and died in this con- 
dition, all through their sad experience in Polygamy. 
Not long since, the fifth or sixth wife of one of the 
leading men of Salt Lake City died bereft of reason. 
Her husband was about marrying a young girl at the 
same time, and refused to go and see his dying wife. 
That man's name would astonish my readers, did I 
publish it, for he is universally respected as one of 
the best men in Mormonism ; and I can only account 
for his inhumanity by considering the poverty and 
debasement into which Polygamy had plunged him. 

Several cases of lunacy have come under my own 
personal notice ; and two young women, of very re- 
spectable families, with whom I am acquainted, nar- 
rowly escaped from the effects of poison, which, in 



88 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



their misery, they had taken as a last resource. I 
have heard of many more cases of desperate attempts 
at suicide. 

To say that there are no men who try to be just in 
the practice of Polygamy would be very wrong, for 
there are men in Utah who try their best to act 
rightly to all their wives. These meP are generally 
those who care very little about religion p*and I have 
often said of them, (of one in particular,) if t^ e Y are 
good with Mormonism, how much better would ^they 
be without it. It is my firm belief that Mormoni£P 
has perverted some of the best of natures. 

On the other hand, I have known men who we, 
reputed good husbands and fathers before they wen 
to Utah, and, after they had been there a few years, 
they did not seem like the same beings. They be- 
came harsh and cold in their natures, and so cruel to 
their wives and neglectful of their children, that it 
seemed as if they thought of nothing but getting 
wives and pleasing themselves, regardless of whether 
they could support their families or not These were 
generally the most religious men. 

We had not been long in Salt Lake City before the 
ball season commenced. These balls afford splendid 
opportunities to the men for flirting with the girls. 
No matter how old and hotnely a man is, he thinks 
that he has as much right to flirt and dance with the 
girls as the youngest boy ; for they all look upon 
themselves and each other as boys and single men, 
even if they have a dozen wives. There is no limit 
to their " privileges/' They are always in the mar- 
ket. Brigham, in his public discourses, has said that 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



8 9 



the brethren " are all young men under a hundred 
years of age." With such an extended privilege, it 
is here in Utah that hoary Winter and smiling May 
can be seen galloping forth in the dance together. 
A thoughtful subject for the artist's pencil. 

It is of no consequence how much a man may flirt 
in the presence of his wife or wives. They must not 
presume to say one word to him about it ; for the 
husband is free to do whatever he likes. He is one 
of the lords of creation. He is master of his wives, 
of his children. Then, how can one of his own dare 
to call in question any thing he may think fit to do ? 
She may, it is true, do so ; but she must take the 
consequences of that rash act. 

Oh ! how I loathe even the very remembrance of 
those hateful ball-rooms, where I have seen so many 
unhappy wives, and have heard so many tales of sor- 
row. For, while the wives would be sitting as " wall- 
flowers," along the sides of the hall, after having 
danced the first dance with their husbands, as a mat- 
ter of form, I have heard them many times telling 
each other about what they had seen their husbands 
doing during the evening ; and how they had been 
compelled to pay attention to some jabbering little 
girl that their husbands chanced to fancy ; and they 
had to do it also for peace' sake, and appear to be 
satisfied. 

I do not mean to say that I did not like these so- 
cial amusements myself, for I did ; and could, under 
other circumstances, have enjoyed them very much. 
But I had been told so many things of the unplea- 
santnesses of a ball-room in Salt Lake City — at least, 



90 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



to married women — that my apprehensions were 
aroused. But all that was ever told me never half 
came up to the truth ; nor can I possibly myself give 
the reader any correct idea of the heart-aches and 
sorrows which these scenes bring to the wives of 
Mormons. 

It is quite a common thing for married men 
to go with young girls to these balls. The ma- 
jority of the men, however, prefer to take their 
first wives with them at the same time ; but it is 
not infrequent to hear a lady say, in the ball- 
room, " My husband has brought his girl here 
to-night ; but I have not spoken one word to 
her, nor will I do so." Yet if any one were to ask 
these same ladies if they believed that Polygamy was 
right, they would say, " Certainly, I do ; but I do not 
like her?. — and this simply because their husbands 
had paid her attentions. This seems like inconsis- 
tency ; but it serves to show what conflicting feelings 
Mormon women have to contend with. 

The men should hear what their wives say about 
them in the ball-rooms, and the hatred they feel for 
them. I have seen some women sitting quietly eye- 
ing their husbands, as they danced or flirted with 
their younger loves, till their cup of indignation was 
full. Then they would make for the dressing-rooms, 
where their anger would burst upon the ears of a 
group of eager listeners, who were seemingly pleased 
to learn that some one else was suffering as well as 
themselves. A half-repressed threat, " I will be equal 
with him," has escaped the lips of those who, before 
that, had passed for being happily situated. 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



Where new matrimonial alliances are continually 
taking place, the arrival of a gentleman, with his 
wife, wives, or a maiden, in the ball-room, is never re- 
marked ; and, not infrequently, different wives arrive 
at different hours during the evening, as it suits their 
convenience; and thus it would be difficult to say 
who came with their " lord." Besides, no observation 
is made if a lady thus enters the ball-room alone, 
though it is expected that her husband is aware of 
her coming. This coming alone, however, is not a 
common habit ; but, as it is admissible, it does occa- 
sionally happen that a husband is dancing or enjoy- 
ing himself in the ball-room with his last fiancee, 
when a vigilant pair of eyes searches over the room 
and lights upon the happy " lord." When eyes like 
these encounter the eyes they seek, a change is seen, 
and the youthful airiness of the gentleman vanishes, 
and sober looks follow the gaiety of the earlier hour. 

It is a very difficult thing for a woman, after pass- 
ing through such scenes, over and over again, and 
knowing them to be true, to have much respect left 
for the Mormon men who practice Polygamy. Though 
they consider themselves to be benefactors, they act 
like oppressors of womankind. I am not alone in 
this opinion. I know scores of ladies in Utah, both 
married and single, who feel and speak exactly as I 
, do on this subject. 

I met President Heber C. Kimball at one of these 
balls, soon after my arrival. He said that he would 
introduce me to his wife. Every one liked Heber for 
; his outspoken, honest bluntness. He took me up 
the hall and introduced me to five wives in succes- 



92 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



sion ! " Now," said he, " I think I'll quit ; for I fancy 
you are not over strong in the faith." 

I asked, " Are these all you have got ?" 

" O dear ! no," he said ; " I have a few more at 
home, and about fifty more scattered over the earth 
somewhere. I have never seen thern since they 
were sealed to me in Nauvoo, and I hope I never 
shall again." 

I thought this was terrible ; but it was only the 
beginning of worse things. 

After this winter, I had very little peace ; for the 
women were constantly talking to me about my hus- 
band getting another wife. He held out, however, 
for five years, but at last he " felt it was his duty to 
do so," and I was silly enough to allow that " he was 
not living up to his religion" unless he took an extra 
wife. 

I shall never forget those ball-room scenes. Even 
to this day, when I chance to listen to tunes which I 
used to hear played in those times, they grate so ter- 
ribly upon my ear, and bring back so many sad re- 
collections, that I want to get away from the sound 
of them as quickly as possible, for they are more than 
I can endure. Bygone recollections are often recalled 
by trifles such as this. 

A few months ago, I attended a ball in Salt Lake 
City. It was the first I had been to since I withdrew 
from the church ; and of course it was got up by the 
" Liberal Party." I felt free and happy, for there was 
nothing to annoy or disturb me. Suddenly the band 
struck up a tune which I had heard while attending 
the Mormon balls. It sounded like the death-knell 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 93 

of all ray pleasant feelings, and aroused memories of 
the past which were so intensely painful that I could 
not rally from the depression that I felt for the rest 
of the evening. I had heard that tune before, and 
many like it, and had even danced to it, while my 
heart was breaking. Can it excite wonder that I 
should feel thus ? I knew too much of those assem- 
blies, which to some are heaven, to others purga- 
tory ! 

Let me ask my lady readers — those, I mean, who 
have never been in Utah — Ladies, how do you think 
you would feel if you were kept waiting long after the 
hour of midnight, far away into the morning, until 
your husbands had got through with their dancing 
and flirting, while your own hearts were breaking ? 
I think I hear you say, " I would not stand it." You 
do not know, I assure you, what you would do under 
the circumstances. What can you know — you, Ameri- 
can women, who are petted and indulged to such 
an extent that you do not really know what sorrow 
is ? How can you possibly judge what the feelings 
of a Mormon woman are, who has been taught to be- 
lieve that " her desire shall be unto her husband, and 
he shall rule over her? 

This is no imaginary " rule," but a stern fact. Wo- 
man in Utah is only a chattel ! 



CHAPTER XII. 



Going to the "Endowment House" — Wives cruel to other Wives — 
The Story of a young second Wife — How she came to Marry — 
How she was treated — Her Husband's neglect — Cruelty of the first 
Wife — Goes to the "Bishop" — How young Girls in Polygamy 
value the Attentions of their Husbands — The Ways of Mormon Men. 

One day my husband came home, apparently very 
much pleased about something, and said to me, 
" What do you think ? — we have the privilege of re- 
ceiving our ' Endowments' * next Saturday." This, 
he added, was really a great favor, as many had been 
there a much longer time and had not received them. 
I made no answer, and finally he asked — " Are you 
not pleased with the invitation ?" 

I answered — " No, I do not want to have my En- 
dowments." 

" And why not ?" he enquired. 

" Because," I said, " I have heard so much about 
it, that I have not only no desire, but I have a great 
repugnance to ' going through the Endowments/ " 

This surprised him. We had, as might be ex- 
pected, a little very pleasant (?) conversation on the 
subject ; and finally Mr. S., dissatisfied with my 
opposition, left the house. When he returned, he 
told me that it was not absolutely needful for us to 
go on the ensuing Saturday, but we could go on the 



* Secret rites of the Priesthood. 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



95 



Saturday following, and that would give me time to 
think of it. In my own mind I said — I shall not go 
at all ! But, after quietly reflecting about the matter, 
I saw that my husband was willing to concede some- 
what, and it only seemed fair that I should do as 
much ; particularly as I knew that when he was told 
to go there, he was obliged to do so. For if he had 
said that he could not go to receive the Endowments 
because his wife did not wish to, he would have made 
himself an object of ridicule. He would probably 
have been " counselled" to take another wife and go 
through the Endowments with her, (as he could not 
go alone,) and I should have been baffled and humi- 
liated. I, therefore, thought it was best for me to 
submit ; but I did not do so by any means with a good 
feeling. I simply " stooped to conquer." 

I went through that " Endowment House" with 
the very worst feelings that any woman could have, 
and scarcely noticed what was passing around me. 
In justice to the Mormons, I feel bound to state that 
the accounts which I have frequently read, professing 
to give a description of the " Endowments" given in 
Salt Lake City, are almost altogether exaggerated, 
and have generally been written either by the ene- 
mies of the Saints, or by those who knew nothing at 
all about the matter. I myself saw nothing indeli- 
cate ; though I had been led to believe that improper 
things did take place there, and I was determined 
not to submit to any thing of the kind. 

When we had got through, I thought — " If there 
is really any good in these ceremonies, or any bless- 
ing to be derived from them, I certainly shall never 



g6 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



get it." It did not, however, trouble me very much ; 
for I was beginning in real earnest to feel tired of 
serving " the Lord" after the fashion taught by the 
Mormon elders, and that I should have to give up 
the whole religion. It was a one-sided affair alto- 
gether, and it was rarely that I could get so much as 
a good feeling to help me along. 

There was scarcely a day passed without some- 
thing unpleasant, or something calculated to shake 
my faith, occurring before my eyes. Either some 
woman was suffering from neglect, while her husband 
was living with a young wife and spending all his 
time and money with her ; or some young girl was 
abused and persecuted by the first wife ; or it might 
be that there was nothing but quarrelling, hatred, 
and complaints among them all. Then I would ask 
myself — " Where is the Spirit of God in all this ? 
Surely this is none of His work !" The injustice and 
cruelty of men to their wives, the hardness of women 
towards each other, and the dejected, timid, cringing 
women who were afraid to call their lives their own, 
were sights so painful to behold that I could scarcely 
continue to believe that the Lord had any thing to 
do with the Mormon faith. 

These are things that I have seen, and that I know 
to be true. Were I at liberty to do so, and were it 
not a betrayal of confidence, I could give the names 
of women in Salt Lake City who are now residing 
there, and who have suffered and are suffering this 
oppression as much now as then. 

I could tell the reader tales of such cruelty in the 
case of one woman towards another — wives of the 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



97 



same man — that he would hardly believe it could be 
true, and I should be ashamed to relate the story. I 
will, however, give one short account which will per- 
haps afford an insight into the whole system, when 
illustrated by bad men. 

I knew a young woman who was a second wife, 
and she had two children. She came to me one day 
in great distress, and asked me if I would allow her 
to come and work for me. I saw she was in trouble ; 
and, as I had seen her several times before, and 
knew that she was a second wife to a man who lived 
only a short distance from us, I asked her to tell me 
what her trouble was. At first she hesitated, and 
then she told me that she had nothing to eat and 
nothing for her little ones. I was surprised at this, 
for I knew that her husband was in good circum- 
stances ; and I asked her where he was. She said, 
" He is away just now, but it makes no difference 
when he is at home ; it is all the same. I live," she 
added, " in the garret, and the wind blows through 
the roof, and it is so cold that we are nearly frozen ; 
and, when I have asked for a stove, he has told me 
to go and earn one. I can cook at their kitchen 
stove ; but, if I stay there too long, his first wife and 
children do not like it. I have not been out to work 
since I have been confined." Her babe was then 
only one month old. 

Presently she continued — " I am out of every thing, 
and the other wife says that she won't give me any 
thing ; that I must go and work for it." 

" But," I said, " you can not work yet ; you are not 
strong enough." 



9 8 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



" Oh ! yes, I can," said she. " My husband made 
me work in the yard when I had only been confined 
two weeks." 

Reader, would you believe that this man (if I may 
call such a creature a " man") was an American ? 
Now, I have always thought that the American hus- 
bands spoiled their wives ; but I do not think this 
man was guilty of doing so. 

The poor girl told me that during her confinement 
she had been left alone in that garret. They would 
bring her, once a day, something to eat of whatever 
chanced to be at hand, but she had no light or 
warmth, and she added — " I have neither food nor 
proper clothing for my children, and I must go to 
work ; I must try to get a place to live in, as my 
husband will not give me one." 

I told her that she might come and work for me, 
and she had to bring her two little children with her. 
How I pitied her ! She was a really good-looking 
Danish girl ; and, before she had married this man, 
she had worked in his family as a servant, and had 
helped in the field. I believe that he married her 
only to retain her services ; for she said that both he 
and his wife ill-treated her because she would not 
work in the field all the time. 

Another case I think I may mention as confirma- 
tory of what I have stated. It is that of a young 
woman who was a sempstress. The first wife had 
induced her to marry her husband ; and, as soon as 
they were married, she (the first wife) discovered that 
she could not endure Polygamy. Then began a series 
of persecutions. She managed to make her do all 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 99 

the sewing for the family, which consisted of boys ; 
and, when that was done, she insisted on her going 
out to work by the day, and giving her the money 
that she earned ; saying that she knew best how to 
spend it. This poor silly girl did as she was told ; 
all the home that was allotted to her being a mise- 
rable little room scarcely furnished. 

She worked as long as she could, trudging through 
all kinds of weather to go to her every-day labor, 
until the very day that her first child was born. The 
first three days after the birth of her child, the first 
wife procured some help for her ; but after that she 
would just open the door and put in something for 
her to eat, on a tin-plate. This she did, not because 
she had no other plates, but because she wanted to 
show her contempt for the young mother ; and if 
her husband went into the room for ten minutes to 
see her, there would be a tremendous fuss. As soon 
as she was able, she was made to go to work again. 
This was a house where the first wife ruled. 

The poor creature (the second wife) went to the 
Bishop, and asked what she should do. He told her 
to bear it, and " the Lord " would make it all right 
some day. " The Lord," however, failed to do so. 
After she had borne her weary trials for four years, 
and after a long illness, in which she was shamefully 
neglected, she concluded very wisely that she would 
endure it no longer, and she left them. It is hardly 
possible to believe what the poor girl suffered in that 
illness. Weak and sick as she was, she had to get 
out of bed and crawl to the fire-place, (for she was 
far too weak to walk,) and then prepare a fire as well 



100 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



as she could, in order to make herself a little tea, or 
any thing she might require. This was when her 
second child was born. But this is nothing, com- 
pared with what I might write. I pass over such 
very painful details. This is the kind of treatment 
that one woman will sometimes give to another under 
Polygamy ; and it is those women who, from religious 
zeal, are most anxious to " get wives for their hus- 
bands," who thus misconduct themselves, when their 
religion is put into practice. Thank God that such 
women are comparatively few ! * 

There is another class of men in Polygamy who 
are deserving of notice. These are honest, good 
men, untiring in their efforts to make their wives 
comfortable and happy — were that possible. If they 
could provide a palace for each wife, they would do 
so. Such men, it may well be said, are slaves to 
their families ; but, with their best efforts, they can 
not chase away from their homes this skeleton — 
Polygamy. 

With their several wives these men try to be 
scrupulously just, never showing partiality in look, 
word, or deed. I know quite a number of such. 

But a short time since I met with one of them 
while spending the evening with some of my friends. 
His fourth wife — a young lady — was present with 
him. He was very attentive and kind to her ; and, 
had she been his only wife, he could not have been 
more so. My attention was attracted by her manner 
towards him. A stranger would probably never have 
noticed what I then observed. There was a certain 
sarcastic bitterness of tone while accepting his atten- 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 101 



tions, as if she felt that they were simply hers by 
right. I looked at her and thought — " Is it possible 
that you have arrived at that condition already ?" 
She was a young lady scarcely out of her teens, only 
a few months married, and surrounded with every 
comfort. I knew how she felt, for I had passed 
through a similar experience myself. It recalled 
vividly to my mind scenes that had passed in my 
own home, when my husband had perhaps taken 
particular pains to show me some attention, or speak 
kind words to me ; and I had met him with that 
same half-concealed bitter tone, believing that he was 
only acting a part with me. 

I was pained to think that one so young, whom I 
had seen only a few months before a gay and happy 
girl, should feel like this ; and yet I knew that it was 
the fate of every woman who lives in Polygamy. It 
can not be otherwise. She felt, I know, that all these 
attentions and loving words would be given to an- 
other — perhaps an hour after leaving her — and then 
to another and another still ; and thus they lost their 
value to her. Thence the cold and thankless tones 
with which she responded to her husband. 

A gentleman of my acquaintance who has lived 
many years in Polygamy, a good, kind husband and 
father, recently said to me that one of his wives suf- 
fered terribly from Polygamy. He always avoided 
any mention of the word in her presence. He told 
me that he had often seen her happy and gay, with 
everything pleasant and agreeable around her, when, 
by some unforeseen fatality, some one present would 
allude to Polygamy. In an instant a deep gloom 



102 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



would come over her face ; and, strive as he might to 
drive it away, it was impossible. It would haunt her 
even for days. 

Such men as these lose no opportunity of showing 
their wives every kind attention. If they are affluent 
and keep a carriage, they may be seen driving out 
with one of the wives on every occasion. Their 
sleighs are the first out in the season. They are to 
be seen at nearly every public amusement. They 
attend all the balls, and dance only with their wives 
and other married ladies, except when compelled to 
do otherwise with their intimate acquaintances. 

All this they do to try to make their wives happy 
and divert their thoughts from their secret sorrow. 
These poor men do not know that the very means 
which they take to destroy that feeling only excites 
it the more. A woman, as she receives these kind- 
nesses, only loves her husband the better and wishes 
that she had all his love. 

There is no possible happiness in Polygamy, even 
with such men. There can be none I And, there- 
fore, the less love there is, the better are women able 
to bear it. . Brigham knew it when he said in the 
Bowery some years ago that there should be no love ; 
it was only a weakness. He understood the case 
perfectly. 

It was once remarked to me by a visitor to Salt 
Lake City, in speaking of a lady friend of mine — 
" How beautiful she is when she smiles, but what a 
difficult thing it is to get her to smile ; she looks so 
sad and mournful." I had known that lady for many 
years and how deep her sorrow was. Her husband 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. IO3 



had been away for a long time on a mission ; and on 
his return, when he had been home only a week or 
two, he married two young girls. It is said that his 
father " counselled " him to do so ; and from that 
day, now many years ago, she has mourned in deep 
affliction, to which has been added the troubles which 
her two lovely daughters have experienced. 

Some men, feeling that they have got to practice 
Polygamy or else lose their hopes for futurity, set 
themselves to work to discover in what way the task 
can be most easily accomplished to spare their wives' 
feelings, and make as little change as possible in their 
households. On the arrival of the emigrants, they 
will visit the camp ; and, if they see a young girl who 
takes their fancy, (it may be that they have met be- 
fore in another country ; if not, it makes no differ- 
ence,) they will offer to take her home until she can 
" look around and see what she can do." Or, if it 
should be the fall when they arrive, (and it always 
was so before the railroad was in operation,) they 
would offer them a home for the winter, which was 
generally accepted with gratitude, as a great many of 
them had no relatives to go to. 

Then they had an opportunity of becoming well 
acquainted with each other and with the first wife ; 
and many a wife consents to this addition, believing 
that, as she has got to pass through the ordeal at 
some time, this will be the best way. I know an 
indulgent husband who has taken half a dozen girls, 
one after the other, into his house for this purpose ; 
but not one of them seemed to suit his wife exactly, 
and he has seemingly given it up in despair. I hope 
his sweet little wife may never be suited ! 



CHAPTER XIII. 



Fears realized — Meeting an old Friend from Switzerland — The 
Vicissitudes of himself and Family — How he was " counselled " to 
take another Wife — Brigham sends for me — My young Charge — 
" Not feeling well" — My Husband seeks a second Wife— A " Pain- 
ful " Task— Striving to submit — My Attempts at Friendship with his 
Fiancee — My Heart not quite subdued. 

Upon our arrival in Utah, I longed to see the con- 
verts who had preceded us from Switzerland. But it 
was some time before I had the mingled pleasure and 
pain that that meeting afforded me. 

One day a countryman called to see us. It was 

Mr. . I was surprised at the difference in the 

appearance of this gentleman. I hardly knew him. 
He was changed from the fine-looking, well-to-do 
bourgeois to a hard-working, labouring man, poorly 
clad, sun-burnt, wrinkled, and old. I could have 
wept over him when I saw the change ; and when I 
inquired about his family, he told me how they were, 
and that he had married the young servant-girl who 
had come with them from Switzerland. I was very 
much surprised at this, but dared not ask him how it 
had occurred. I thought I would wait till I could 
see his wife ; but as they lived about eighty miles 
from the city, I was not enabled to do so till several 
months after. 

He told me of his difficulties and struggles to ob- 
tain even a bare livelihood. His story was that of 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 105 



many others going to a new country. But he did 
not complain. When he arrived in Utah, he did not 
know what to turn his attention to, and, after some 
hesitation, went to farming. As he was entirely 
ignorant of agriculture, he could not, of course, suc- 
ceed. Then the grasshoppers came and destroyed 
their crops ; and one reverse after another followed, 
until they were reduced to miserable poverty, and 
utterly broken down. Still, though weak in body, 
he was firm and robust in his faith in Mormonism. 
He was a sterling man. 

As soon as I had opportunity I went to see 
his wife. She was the lady to whom I had first 
preached Polygamy in Switzerland. I found her in 
a little log-cabin of two rooms, and of course no car- 
pet on the floors. In this abode of poverty lived my 
two kind friends whom I had known under such dif- 
ferent circumstances, and with them were their five 
little children. But this was not all. The other 
wife was also living there, and she, poor girl, was 
certainly not to blame ; and under the same roof 
were also her two children. 

What a change was this ! When I first knew them 
in their own country, this lady (the first wife) was a 
gay, light-hearted, happy woman. Now she was 
care-worn, dull, and broken-spirited. 

I asked her how her husband came to marry. 

She answered me : — " If you had been here during 
1 the Reformation/* you would not need to ask that 

* 1855-6. — A period of great and almost incredible excitement in 
Utah, when the wildest doctrines were urged by the teachers and 
elders, producing the most fearful results. 



106 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



question." Then she added — " You ought to thank 
God that you were not. The men were all crazy 
here, and were marrying every woman they could 
get. The Bishop came to my husband one day and 
told him that he had not 1 kept the commandments/ 
and that he must get another wife within a week. 
The teachers also went to the servant-girl and told 
her that she must get married, and that, if she had 
no one in view, they would select some one for her. 

" Those were fearful times. No one dared refuse 
to listen to 1 counsel.' What could we do ? 

" My husband talked to me about the matter. He 
said that he had never before thought of it, and there- 
fore he did not know whom to ask to be his second 
wife. We began to consider the whole affair in a 
practical light. If they made this girl marry and 
leave us, what should I do with all my family with- 
out her assistance ? Only one solution of the diffi- 
culty presented itself, and we came to the conclusion 
that my husband had better ask her to be his second 
wife. As she also was ' under counsel/ she accepted 
him, and it made no great change in our household. 
She has been a good girl, and although, of course, I 
feel all this, I try to bear it, — but / hate the Mor- 
mons r 

No one could see at that time how they could es- ■ 
cape over these vast, dreary plains, and, therefore, 
they had to submit to their fate. 

It is a matter of surprise to many persons that 
intelligent people can be influenced by the Mormon 
teachers to this extent. But it must be remembered 
that, when once the disciples of any faith can be 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



107 



brought to believe in present revelation, they think 
it is wicked to question what they are taught, and 
they do not allow their own judgments to influence 
them in the least. 

I had been in Salt Lake City about two years, 
and had been working during that time at millinery 
in order to assist in supporting my family, when one 
day Brigham Young sent me word that he wished to 
see me. I went to him, and he told me that there 
was a young girl, in whom he took an interest, and 
he wished me to see her. He said she " was not 
feeling well," (which I discovered afterwards meant 
that she was almost ready to apostatize,) and he want- 
ed me to have her with me every day, and try to 
make her " feel well." If she wished it, I was to 
teach her my business ; if not, I was to let her do 
just what she pleased, so that she was with me every 
day. Her parents, he stated, were both dead. 

I listened to all that President Young said, and 
acepted the trust in good faith, for I was very unsus- 
pecting at that time. I called upon the young lady 
and made arrangements with her. She came to my 
house, and I found her to be a particularly sweet girl, 
but very unhappy and also very delicate. 

Several of my friends, who were old residents in 
Salt Lake City, said to me, " Mrs. Stenhouse, there 
is some design in all this. Be on your guard." Some 
women in Salt Lake are always ready with their 
painful advice. In this instance, however, they were 
not far from the truth. I did not suspect any thing ; 
I soon formed, however, an attachment for the young 
girl, as she did also for me, and. I may add — my hus- 



108 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



band had also for her ; although I had no suspicion 
of it then. She remained with me many months, 
until her health became so poor that she was obliged 
to stay at home. During this time, ladies would fre- 
quently tell me that my husband visited her regularly, 
and that it was supposed he would marry her. As 
may be supposed, I was very much shocked at this 
intelligence, and asked him about it. He told me 
that there was no truth in what I had heard, and I 
tried to believe him. However, he spent much less 
time at home than he used to while she was with 
me, and although I did not know certainly where he 
was when absent, I felt sure that he was engaged in' 
something which interested him very much. 

I may here mention that it is not customary 
for a Mormon wife to ask her husband where he is 
going when he leaves home in the evening after 
arranging his toilet very carefully. If she feels that 
she must say something to give vent to her over- 
wrought feelings, it is simply to ask him when he will 
be home ; and in many instances to wish in her 
secret heart that he might say — " Never !" 

I sometimes am almost inclined to think that the 
baneful effects of this fearful religion will not only 
pursue us through life, but will also go with us to our 
graves. To this day, although every thing is so greatly 
changed, and my husband is now " all my own," I 
cannot entirely forget the past, and often I feel like 
a guilty thing if I venture to ask him where he is 
going, or where he has been. The reader who knows 
what the varied experience of life is, will understand 
what I mean, but which words fail me to tell. 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



IO9 



I have lived a separate life so long, hiding my 
sorrows in my own breast, that now it has become 
almost impossible to restore that long-lost confidence 
which constitutes the true pleasure of married life, 
without which no woman is really happy. I cannot 
forget the past. It was fraught with a perpetual fear 
which my mind can never entirely shake off — a fear 
which even now makes me think that the teachings 
of that religion can never be utterly effaced from our 
hearts, and which reminds me sadly of the words 
which the poet has put into the mouth of one of those 
sympathizing angels who are said to watch over the 
interests of mankind :— 

" Poor race of men, said the pitying spirit, 
Dearly ye pay for your primal fall ; 
Some traces of Eden ye still inherit, 

But the trail of the serpent is over them all." 

But there was no poetry to soothe my mind in the 
hour of my trial. There was no music then that 
could lull the storm which gathered in my breast. 
The only word which could then depict my feelings 
was — weariness ! — weariness of mind and body, a 
longing to die, that I might be at rest. If the reader 
never felt thus, let him not judge me. If he has 
known troubles such as mine, he will, out of his own 
experience, sympathize with me. 

But I return to my story. 

I began at last to think, as some of my friends had 
told me, that Brigham Young had some design when 
he sent the young girl to my house. Possibly he 
never thought of it. 



I IO WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 

However, I saw no more to trouble me at that 
time, and as my husband persisted in denying the 
truth of the rumours which I had heard, I tried to 
believe that they were false. But at the same time, I 
was so troubled and agitated by these things that I 
found it impossible to make up my mind to go and 
see her. 

From this time my husband (apparently) began to 
feel seriously that it was his " duty to take another 
wife/' 

• Some years later, when I had more experience in 
the ways of men, I discovered several never-failing 
signs by which one might know when a man wished 
to take another wife. He would suddenly awaken to 
a sense of his duties, and would have great fears that 
" the Lord" would not pardon him for any neglect. 
He would become very religious, attend to his " meet- 
ings" — testimony meetings — singing meetings, and 
various other meetings ! In fact, he would show a 
great determination to leave nothing undone which 
ought to be done. My husband, being a good and 
conscientious Mormon, experienced all these feelings. 
Of course he did ; and his kind brethren, knowing 
just how he felt, sympathized, urged, and even aided 
him in his noble efforts to carry out the " commands 
of God." 

The young lady was at last selected. She was 
very pretty, and very youthful. The last qualifica- 
tion is very necessary in a Mormon's wife, for then it 
is expected that she will have more time to bear chil- 
dren to the glory of the kingdom. It must not be 
supposed that any other consideration influences a 



/ 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. Ill 

Mormon mind. O dear! no. They are such very . 
pure-minded men. 

Then commenced the task, the painful task of pay- 
ing his addresses to her. It is a " painful task" I know, 
for my husband told me it was, and of course I, as a 
dutiful wife, believed him. He seemed, however, to 
bear it remarkably well, and went at it with a zeal 
that was perfectly astonishing to me, who knew, from 
what he said, how painful it was to him. 

I had really to restrain him a little for the benefit 
of his health ; for when the duties of the day were 
over, and evening came, he would scarcely take time 
to eat his supper, so anxious was he to continue this 
labour of love. 

But deeply as I sympathized with my husband in 
the " painful duty" which he had to perform, there 
were times when I felt that my real sorrow was 
greater than his fancied difficulties. I was in fact 
now truly overwhelmed with trouble. It seemed to 
me as if affliction was right at my door. I would 
sometimes almost rave with anger. Then I would 
pray, then cry. Such were the days and nights that 
I spent, not once only, but constantly, and without 
ceasing. I may truly say that I never knew at that 
time what it was to smile. I never knew in any sense 
what it was to be happy. I was pale, thin, and ner- 
vous, and I was often asked by my friends, who only 
judged from appearance, if I were consumptive. Yes, 
I might have answered, there is a consuming sorrow 
at my heart that is gnawing my life away. There 
was no possibility of evading my trouble. I had to 



112 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 

face it, and though I felt that I had not courage to 
endure it, yet I lived ! 

I knew the very hours that my husband was with 
her. Mentally I was myself with him, and saw all. 

the anguish that I felt in those times ! No tongue 
can describe it, no one is capable of imagining it, but 
a woman who truly loves her husband and has en- 
dured the same anguish as that which I then felt. 
Had my husband been in any sense a bad man, I 
dare say, like many other women, I would have 
hardened my heart and have tried to forget that I 
ever cared for him. But this was not the case. He 
was a really good man in every respect. I knew how 
fondly he had once loved me, and in my heart I 
believed that he would even now be unchanged but 
for the influence of his religion, which he still thought 
was " the way, the truth, and the life." 

If I had for one moment supposed what he did was 
from any other than the purest motives, I should 
have cast his love from me ; but even up to that time 

1 feared, and almost believed, that all this might be 
right ; although I saw so much wrong connected 
with it. 

I knew very well that if it was the law of God, as I 
had been led to believe it was, I must endure it, 
though it should cost me my life. Besides which, 
Brigham Young and all the authorities used to say 
that it was u a cross that we all had got to bear," 
though I used to think that the heaviest portion of 
the cross was put on woman's shoulders. They have 
all told me frequently and positively that there was 
no salvation or " exaltation in the heavens" without 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. II3 



it. The thought of it was, nevertheless, so revolting 
to me that, had I been left to my own choice, I would 
rather have gone to some other place than the kind 
of heaven they spoke of, without it, than have gone 
to glory with it. But I was a wife, and had to con- 
sult my husband's interests as well as my own. No 
matter how weak I was in the faith, if my husband 
felt condemned by not practising the doctrine of 
Polygamy, it became my duty to submit, or at least I 
thought so. 

With these convictions and feelings, I would some- 
times nerve myself to the task of enduring ; but if I 
'happened to get a glimpse of the girl that my hus- 
band was going to marry, all my good resolutions 
would vanish like chaff before the wind, and I would 
feel sick and nervous, and entirely unfitted to attend 
to my duties. 

I had often heard it said that the Lord gave 
strength according to our day, but I certainly felt 
that it was not true in my case. My day had come, 
but I had very little strength. 

About this time my husband left the city to go to 
the Eastern States, and his marriage was put off to 
some indefinite period on account of the extreme 
youthfulness of the bride-elect. I felt in a measure 
relieved ; for now they could not meet, and I thought 
that it would be a good opportunity for me to try to 
show her some attention, which I felt it was my duty 
to do. I thought that I would invite her to my house, 
now that there was no danger of my husband meeting 
her, and I did so. She came, and I had one or two 
other ladies present, for I was not like my husband in 



114 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 

this particular — 7 could not endure to be alone with 
her. 

I don't think that she enjoyed herself very much, 
for I could not at this time take to her. I longed for 
the time to come for her to go home, and when she 
had gone, I did not feel very satisfied, but thought 
that I would try it again. I did so, but this time it 
was an entire failure ; for before she came, I had been 
brooding over the matter, and so hated the sight of 
her that I feigned sickness and kindly asked her to 
go home. After that, I gave up my attempt at friend- 
liness as a bad job, and thought she must take her 
chances of any attention from me. She was a very 
nice girl, and under any other circumstances I think 
I could have liked her very well. 

During my husband's absence, the young lady that 
I mentioned before as having lived with me, had not 
recovered from her illness, but was growing worse 
all the time. She had been out of the city, and I had 
not seen her for some months. She now sent for 
me, and I went to see her every day ; for I saw that 
she was failing fast, and I felt assured that she could 
not live long. 

She told me that she had left my house because 
she would not do any thing to make me suffer. She 
said that my husband had hinted at marriage to her, 
and that she liked him, but had avoided him for my 
sake. This was an instance of such self-denial as I 
had never expected to find in Utah, and I looked on 
her as almost an angel. I told her that my husband 
had denied it, and she said that he did so to spare my 
feelings, as it was not likely to result in any thing. 



I 

■ 

WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY". 1 1 5 

This I did not appreciate at all. I only felt that I 
had been deceived. But Polygamic Mormonism is 
full of deceptions. They deceive each other, and are 
at the same time often themselves the most deceived. 

I knew well enough that my husband was not 
happy. It was not in his nature to have deceived 
me ; but he was compelled to do so from the very 
circumstances of the case ; and, as I said before, for 
peace* sake. He knew that there were times when I 
was perfectly wild with despair, and was reckless of 
consequences ; and I was prepared to cast aside my 
hope of salvation, my life, and every thing, rather 
than endure another day what I then was suffering. 

At these times I would say the most bitter things 
that I could think of, of Joseph Smith, Brigham 
Young, and all the leading men of the church. My 
husband was perfectly awe-stricken at the attacks I 
would make upon those whom he then believed were 
the servants of God. I know that there were times 
when he felt that it was the greatest sin that I could 
commit to speak thus. 

In my calmer moments, seeing my husband so 
terribly in earnest, and having confidence in his 
superior judgment, I would come back to the old 
feeling that the wrong was in myself, and I would 
earnestly pray to the Lord to be forgiven. 

I do not think that I should ever make a very good 
saint, for in all this that I have related there was one 
thing that consoled me — I felt that my husband's 
intended would some day learn that she was not his 
first and only love after myself. I am almost ashamed 
to own that this should be any gratification to me, 



Il6 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 

but the young girls at that time frequently got the 
idea that the men had never really loved until they 
met with them. How far the men were to blame for 
this I do not know ; but it is a fact, and I have little 
doutyt that they had a pretty good share in the de- 
ception. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



The Sacrifice of my Life — I give another Wife to my Husband — The 
Scene in the "Endowment House" — My Day of Trial — "It was 
all over now" — Bitter Miseries of Polygamy — Rebellious Thoughts 
— Retrospect of that Time — The first Wife not alone unhappy- 
Watchful Eyes — A Ludicrous Picture — Want of Sympathy — Seek- 
ing another "Jewel" for his " Crown"— Enlarging the "King- 
dom" — " Stolen Waters" — Love-Letters read in Secret — Reading 
the " Revelation" a Second Time. 

I was now expecting soon to be called upon to 
undergo the most fearful ordeal that any woman 
can possibly be required to pass through — that of giv- 
ing my husband another wife. The thought of doing 
this was even worse than death. It would have 
been fearful to have followed my husband to his 
grave ; . but to live and see him the husband of 
another woman seemed to me like exacting more 
than human nature was capable of enduring. With 
all my faith in Mormonism, doubts would arise, 
and in my bitterest moments of anguish I would 
exclaim, " This is more like the work of cruel man 
than of God. Why should man have this power 
over woman, and she so helpless ? Surely, a just and 
impartial God can have nothing to do with this !" 
Then, again, I would come to the conclusion, as I 
had many times before, that " the ways of the Lord 
are past finding out," and, therefore, I must submit. 

As the time approached for me to do this, I felt 



i 



Il8 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



like a condemned felon in his cell, waiting in agony 
the day of his execution. I knew that my husband 
, suffered also, now that it was so near ; for he neces- 
sarily saw that it would make a great change in his 
future life. His freedom was gone. 

The dreaded day at length arrived. As may well 
be supposed, I had passed a very wakeful and un- 
happy night, and I felt very sick and nervous ; for I 
was soon to become a mother, and it seemed to me 
that I had not courage to go through that day. How- 
ever, I nerved myself to the task, and silently made 
my preparations for going to the " Endowment 
House." The morning was bright and lovely, and 
calculated to inspire joyous hopes and happy feel- 
ings. To me it brought nothing but fear and trem- 
bling. I could not even trust myself to speak to my 
children, for I was choking with suppressed emotion ; 
and they, not knowing how deeply I was suffering, 
looked at me with wonder in their innocent eyes. 
" Oh !" I thought, " surely my husband will at last 
understand the depth of the love I bear him ; for, 
were it not that he believes the doctrine to be true, I 
would even now dash this bitter cup from my lips !" 
There was a darkness before my eyes, and, struggle 
as I might, I could see no ray of light, no glimmering 
of hope. I was utterly cast down and broken-hearted, 
and felt almost as if the Lord had forsaken me. I 
could not go to my husband for sympathy ; for I felt 
that his thoughts were with his young bride, and that 
my sorrows would only worry him at a time when he 
must desire to be at peace. 

The time at length arrived for us to go to the 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. I 19 



" Endowment House," and there at the altar the first 
wife is expected to give proof of her faith in her reli- 
gion by placing the hand of the new wife in that of 
her husband. She is asked the question by Brigham 
Young, " Are you willing to give this woman to your 
husband, to be his lawful and wedded wife, for time 
and for all eternity ? If you are, you will manifest it 
by placing her right hand within the right hand of 
your husband." I did so. But what words can de- 
scribe my feelings ? The anguish of a whole lifetime 
was crowded into that one single moment. When it 
was done, I felt that I had laid every thing upon the 
altar, and that there was no more to sacrifice. I had 
given away my husband. What more could the Lord 
require of me that I could not do ? Nothing ! 

I was bewildered and almost beside myself, and yet 
I had to hide my feelings ; for to whom should I turn 
for sympathy among those who were around me ? My 
husband was there, it is true ; but he was now the 
husband of another woman, and a newly-made bride- 
groom. I felt that I stood alone, our union was severed. 
I had given away my husband, and he no longer be- 
longed only to me ! The thought was madness. I 
could not think it possible that there ever could be 
any copartnership between that other wife and my- 
self. From that day, I began to hide all my sorrows 
from my husband ; and it was only when I was com- 
pelled, as I might say, to give vent to my highly- 
wrought feelings, that I ever uttered a word of dis- 
content. Then, when I spoke or expressed what I 
felt, it was in anger ; but never in sorrow, seeking 
sympathy. 



120 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



I remember well that when I returned home — that 
"home" which was now to become hateful to me, for 
his young wife was to live there — my husband said 
to me, " You have been very brave ; but it is not so 
hard to do, after all, is it ?" He had seen me bear it 
so well, that he even supposed I was indifferent. So 
much for the penetration of men ! 

During the remainder of that day, how I watched 
their looks and noted their every word. To me, their 
tender tones were like daggers, piercing me to the 
heart. One moment I yearned for my husband's un- 
divided love ; the next moment I hated even the very 
sight of him, and vowed that he never again should 
have a place in my heart. Then I would feel that 
there was no justice in heaven, or this great sorrow 
would not have come upon me. 

Why did the Lord implant this love in my nature ? 
If it is wrong, He could have created me without it. 
Or was it for the pleasure of torturing His daughters 
that this was done ? I could not but feel that the 
Lord whom I served was partial ; for He allowed His 
sons to indulge in their love, while His daughters, who 
by man are considered the weaker vessels, were ex- 
pected to be strong enough to crush out from their 
natures all love and all weakness. 

I felt that day that if I could not soon get away by 
myself, in privacy, and give vent to my overcharged 
feelings, I should certainly go mad. 

It was only in the dead of night, in my own cham- 
ber, that I gave way to the terrible anguish that was 
consuming me. God and my own soul can alone 
bear witness to that time of woe. That night was to 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 121 



me such that even the most God-forsaken might 
pray never to know ; and morning dawned without 
my having for a moment closed my eyes. 

It was all over now. Nothing remained but for 
me to face the fearful reality day after day and hour 
after hour. I do indeed believe that a man, if he 
could have felt as I did then, would have sunk be- 
neath the trial. Who but a woman could endure such 
things and yet live ? 

I had been married then about fifteen years. 

When I look back to those days, I feel that all 
ill-feeling, all those manifold causes of sorrow, have 
fully died away ; for the cause is now removed. I can 
now afford to think as kindly of the second as well as 
of the first wife ; for those young women who marry 
into Polygamy very often — in fact, I may say, gene- 
rally — do so from a sincere belief that it is their 
duty ; and I know that they also have their trials. 
What can they know of happiness — real happiness ? 
If they are sensitive, intelligent girls, they must feel 
almost as intruders in the home of another woman, 
never daring to show their affection for their hus- 
bands, and knowing as they do that keen eyes are 
always watching them* 

If their 1 sorrow is even less than that of the first 
wife, they certainly can know no joy. And if the 
husband has the whole of his family in one house, as 
is often the case, where is his happiness ? One 
might truly say that then he is nothing but a slave in 
the midst of his slaves — his own wives. This can be 
readily understood. His every look and action will 
be closely watched and criticised. If he should 



122 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 

chance to give a new dress to one, he must also give 
a dress to the other, no matter whether she needs it 
or not. Every thing is noticed. Nothing is over- 
looked. When a woman's heart is anxious, her eye 
is never weary. 

This state of affairs, painful as it must be to all 
who are themselves personally interested in such 
things, not infrequently presents a ludicrous picture 
to those who are only lookers-on. In fact, sometimes 
these things are even grotesque in their results. I 
have more than once seen sights of this kind which 
were most laughably ridiculous. Let the reader 
imagine a very old wife, and a very young one, 
dressed alike ! Yet this is not infrequently the case. 
The poor old lady sometimes thinks that if she can 
only make herself look a little juvenile she will be 
quite as attractive to her husband as his young wife is. 
All women would prefer to be young ; but women in 
Utah have a perfect dread of growing old, for they do 
not like the idea of being set aside to make room for 
younger ones, which is very often their fate. In fact, 
this is so common, that it is seen daily. 

I had lived in Polygamy for about three years, and 
nearly one year of that time it? was brought home to 
me most painfully, for it was right before my eyes, 
under my own roof, day after day. To attempt to de- 
scribe to the reader the contending feelings that con- 
tinually and without ceasing tortured my very soul, 
would be impossible. In my struggles to hide them I 
thought they would send me mad. I felt that it re- 
quired more courage to live than to die, but the 
thought of my little ones restrained me ; and I 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 1 23 

thought that, although my life seemed so utterly- 
worthless to me, it was of the utmost value to them, 
and to them it should be devoted. I would not die. 
I would live for their sake. 

AH this time my husband was kind to me. What 
would it have been had he been otherwise ? But 
this perpetual conflict of feelings unfitted me for my 
duties. Even the prattle of my children, which had 
always been as music to my ear, was now almost a 
discordant sound. Their little questionings, too, 
were irksome ; for I wanted to be alone. I had no 
sympathy ; for there was none that knew of all these 
sorrows and trials, or who could feel with me in my 
affliction ; no, not one. Besides, whom could I tell 
them to if not to my husband ; and I certainly could 
not tell him now. Then, too, what good would it do 
me to tell him of my grief ? The thing was done, 
and I must endure it ; or, as I have heard some men 
say to their wives, " You must round up your shoul- 
ders and bear it ; it is as much your duty as mine." 
Besides, I thought, how do I know but what he may 
tell his other wife of my feelings ? and that would be 
too great a humiliation for me, should she think that 
I am jealous. 

I am not naturally a jealous woman. But, I con- 
tend that where there is no jealousy there is very 
little love ; and, in the trying situation in which Mor- 
mon women are placed, they must be more than hu- 
man not to feel it. Besides, I did not think that 
what I felt was jealousy. Even if it was so, it was 
mingled with feelings of indignation and humilia- 
I tion. 



124 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 

I was indeed indignant at seeing another woman 
under my roof, bearing my husband's name, and 
treated as his wife. Oh ! this seemed sometimes 
really more than I could endure. I was ready to 
say, She is not his wife ! dare to call her by his 
name ! Then I would feel humiliation at the posi- 
tion which I occupied, when I fully realized it in all 
its bearings. 

If any one had then told my husband that those 
were my feelings, he would not have believed it ; for 
when we had assembled in our little parlour of an 
evening, (men generally spend their evenings at 
home after taking a new wife, at least for a while,) I 
would so far have subdued my feelings as at least to 
be calm, if not entertaining. But how I watched 
their looks ! how I weighed every word, and often 
put a meaning to many things where there proba- 
bly was none. 

My husband would frequently say to me, " You do 
not feel bad now, do you ? You have got used to it." 
I am proud to say, I never got used to it. 

I had lived in Polygamy about three years when 
Mr. S. thought it was about time that he should add 
another jewel to his crown. I raised no objection to 
this ; for I felt that he might just as well have twenty 
more as the one already too many, particularly as we 
had been taught to believe, the more wives the more 
glory. He told me who the favoured damsel was, 
and I had no objection to her. The only promise I 
tried to exact from him was that there should be no 
long courtship. This he did not object to. But I was 
doomed to be disappointed, although there seemed 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 125 

to be no obstacle in the way this time ; for her mother 
declared to me soon after that " no man had ever 
moved her daughter's heart to love" but my hus- 
band ; " he was her first and only love" — pleasant 
communication to make to a wife ! Her daughter 
confirmed this ; and I myself had little doubt that 
she spoke the truth, when I saw letters constantly 
coming to my house, brought by persons who I 
knew came from her, and I perceived how much care 
was taken that they should not fall into my hands. 
It had always been represented to me, as to every 
woman, that I was a partner in the affair, and I 
thought that it was nothing but right and just that I 
should see and understand for myself how the court- 
ship was progressing. I did not wish to be guilty 
of any thing that was mean ; but as my partner in 
the business did not seem inclined to show me those 
letters, I thought that I would just take a glance at 
them without leave. Accordingly, while he was sweet- 
ly and unconsciously slumbering, night after night I 
extracted those charming epistles from his pocket. 
When I opened them, I found that one glance at 
them only gave me a taste for more, and I was not 
satisfied till I had read them through. I do not 
wish to justify myself for acting thus. But let the 
reader remember what cause of provocation I had, 
and how desperate I felt, before he too hastily judges 
me or condemns what I did. 

To my great astonishment, I found from those 
midnight readings that the affair had progressed far 
beyond my utmost anticipations, and when I saw the 
intensity of the love depicted in those letters, I be- 



126 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 

gan to think that / had before known nothing about 
that tender sentiment. 

The young lady became most terribly exacting 
during fifteen long and dreary months, so fraught 
with misery to me that it would be impossible to tell 
truly a thousandth part of what I felt. Even the re- 
collection of those times I wish to banish. What I 
endured through this love affair was simply what 
many a woman has had to pass through before me in 
Utah, but which I then firmly resolved I never would 
endure again. I had come to the conclusion that if 
the Lord would not give me " salvation" without 
that, I would do without it. I had striven hard to do 
His will ; but I had failed in every single instance to 
see, in what I was called upon to suffer, any indica- 
tion of a God of justice. " How," said I, "could the 
humiliation, abasement, and misery of thousands of 
women contribute to the glory of God ?" 

I now determined that I would satisfy myself con- 
cerning the true origin of Mormonism, and of that 
extraordinary " revelation" which first established 
Polygamy. 

I had through all these years seen many, many 
things that, even after making every allowance, and 
taking them at their best, I knew were wrong. At 
least they appeared so to me, and, according to my 
views, the teachings of the church abounded with in- 
consistencies which considerably weakened my con- 
fidence in its authority. 

I procured a copy of " The Revelation on Mar- 
riage," and read it carefully and calmly. I had not 
seen it since I had partially read it in Switzerland 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



127 



seventeen years before. Then I tiad cast it aside in 
grief, with disgust and indignation. But I now pe- 
rused it with anxious care, desiring only to learn the 
truth. I saw plainly from its own wording that if 
ever it had been given to Joseph Smith, no matter 
by whom, it was given after he had practiced Polyga- 
my, or something worse, and to sanction what he had 
done. I began to make careful inquiry into all these 
things ; and I found that evidence was not wanting 
to prove, at least to me, that this doctrine of plural 
marriages was not of divine origin. 

To doubt one doctrine was to begin to doubt all, 
and I soon felt that my religion was rapidly crum- 
bling away before my eyes, and that I was losing con- 
fidence in every thing and every body. I was like a 
ship at sea without a compass, not knowing where 
to go or what to do. 

At that moment, I believe I would sooner have 
proved my religion true than false, much as it had 
caused me to suffer. But the more I tried to prove 
it true, the more I proved it false ; until in disgust I 
gave up the idea of solving my difficulties, resolving 
that I would have nothing more to do with the mat- 
ter. I had noticed, for some time past, with no small 
degree of pleasure, that my husband's faith in the di- 
vine mission of Brigham Young was shaken. He 
would not confess as much to me ; but the way I dis- 
covered it was very simple. My ears were opened, 
and my eyes were ever watchfully bent upon him, 
and I observed that in his prayers with his family 
when he would ask that Brigham Young might have 
the Spirit of God to enable him to judge justly of the 



128 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 

actions of his brethren, and that he might compre- 
hend the situation of the people, I thought I detected 
in his peculiar earnestness a foreshadowing of doubt 
creeping over him, and I rejoiced to think that at 
last there was a probability that he would yet use his 
own brains and experience, upon which I placed 
great reliance, and be no longer a slave to others. 



CHAPTER XV. 



Trouble with the Church — Implicit Obedience demanded — Confidence 
in the Church Authorities declining — Clinging to Faith — Attempts 
to suppress Doubts — How Inquiry was suggested — Brigham angry 
— " A Prophet might be mistaken" — Day dawning at last — " Obey- 
ing Counsel," and what it cost — An Article on "Progress" — A 
Scene — We withdraw from the Church — A brutal and scandalous 
Outrage upon my Husband and myself — Strange Police! — Without 
Redress — Popular Anger — Private Sympathy. 

Mr. Stenhouse had been a member of the church 
since 1845. He had, to the very best of his ability, 
lectured, preached, written, and published in Great 
Britain, and various parts of the Continent, as well 
as in the United States, in support of the Mormon 
faith. He was a most earnest advocate of Mormon- 
ism, laying aside his own interests, and those of his 
family, all the time. 

Personally, he was devotedly attached to Brigham 
Young for many years. While the members of the 
church have unshaken confidence in the faith of the 
new revelation, they very naturally acquire a regard 
for the Prophet, and render him unquestioning obe- 
dience. When Brigham spoke, he was ready to 
obey ; and at any time during twenty years he would 
joyfully have given up his own life to save the life of 
the Prophet, had it been endangered. Whatever he 
might have seen or heard of Brigham's disregard of 
the rights of the working poor, and his ridiculous 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 

counsellings and teachings to the brethren on busi- 
ness affairs, he was ready to excuse it all, on the plea 
that " Brigham was the servant of the Lord," and, 
therefore, knew more than all the rest, and doubtless 
had inspiration to direct him in all that he did. 

While he was in this condition of mind, I was al- 
most without hope that the change I had so long 
desired would ever come. When I would bring be- 
fore him things which I frequently heard of Brigham, 
and his oppression of any one, he would answer me 
that I could not righteously judge ; for I only par- 
tially knew the facts, and that if I knew more, I 
would probably think otherwise. This was his an- 
swer to every thing ; and probably many women in 
Utah have had something like this experience with 
husbands devoted to the Prophet's interests and 
reputation. He was not, however, so satisfied with 
every thing as his answers indicated. From the 
conversations that I listened to between him and 
influential men in the church, I clearly saw that 
many of the most devoted brethren around Brigham 
did not approve of much that he said and did ; but 
their observations were always tempered with a fear 
of " meddling with the servant of the Lord." There 
is, indeed, a dread in the soul of every good Mormon 
of entertaining any doubts about their leaders, or 
criticising in any way whatever they might think 
proper to do or say. 

Brigham Young, in one of his sermons, says, " In 
the days of yoseph, the first thing manifested in the 
case of apostasy was the idea that yoseph was liable 
to be mistaken ; and when a man admits that in his 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY, 131 

feelings, and sets it down as a fact, it is a step toward 
apostasy ; and he only needs to take one step more, and 
he is cut off from the church" It is this kind of 
teaching that binds every man in Mormonism. I 
was, fortunately, not a man ; and as women will 
sometimes persist in thinking for themselves, I kept 
on thinking and admitting that Joseph Smith was 
liable to be mistaken, and that Brigham Young even 
excelled him in this particular. In fact, he was not 
only " liable," but I knew that he had been mistaken 
many times.. My thinking very often seriously trou- 
bled Mr. S. 

The frequent visits we had from strangers passing 
through Salt Lake City, and Mr. S.'s own frequent 
travels in the States, contributed much to undermine 
his confidence in the teachings of the church. In 
their isolation, and the infrequency with which the 
Saints had any intercourse with others than them- 
selves, it afforded the teachers an opportunity to 
represent the Gentiles in the worst possible manner ; 
and in harmony with their faith, they believed the 
world was corrupt, and fit only to be destroyed. 
When visitors had retired from our house, the re- 
mark would frequently be made, " What a pity these 
persons are not in the church !" Instinctively there 
would follow that expression, the suggestion that 
surely they would not be damned because they did 
not accept the mission of Joseph Smith, the founder 
of Mormonism. The more we had of that inter- 
course, the less confidence we had in the Tabernacle 
faith. The malignant and abusive language, too, so 
frequently used in the sermons, was a puzzle that did 



132 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



not tend to confirm confidence. It seemed that the 
inspiration of " the Lord " was continually at war 
with good sense and experience. The more we knew 
of Christian institutions, and of persons outside of 
the Mormon Church, the less we believed in the 
priesthood's declarations of damnation, and there was 
a gradual returning to reason. The Mormon leaders 
had always counselled the people to avoid intercouse 
with the rest of the world ; and in that they were 
right, for there are few persons who have much inter- 
course and acquaintance with the world, who are 
strong in the Mormon faith. With a better know- 
ledge of mankind, the less they believe in the revela- 
tions of Joseph Smith, and of the world coming to an 
end within the next twenty years. If they grow at 
all, they outgrow the Mormon faith. 

How I prayed in secret that Brigham would some 
day attack Mr. S. ! and how glad was my heart when 
that time came ! 

Brigham had been to the country for a few days, 
and during his absence some contention had arisen 
among the brethren at an election, which dreadfully 
annoyed him. On the morning after his return to 
the city, the police reported to him that the Gentiles 
were mingling freely with the Mormon girls, and 
skating on the same ice, on the Hot Spring Lake, 
north of the city. He was furious, and was "mad" 
with every thing and every body. 

Mr. S. called upon him, and without perceiving his 
sweet temper, introduced some newspaper business 
on the very subject that had made the Prophet an- 
gry. Brigham accused him of publishing a favoura- 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 1 33 

ble notice in his paper of (to him) a very objectiona- 
ble Gentile store ; and added to that personal charges 
about matters that had been published in his paper 
during Mr. S.'s absence in the Eastern States. Mr. 
S. angrily replied to him that what was personal to 
him " was not true and as Brigham was on the eve 
of leaving, he asked for a conference with him in the 
evening. 

" After all these years of labour and devotion/' said 
Mr. S. to me in the afternoon, " for Brigham Young 
to speak to me and of me with such bitterness, with- 
out a particle of foundation ! where was his divine 
inspiration ?" He suddenly checked himself; but 
the truth was out, and I saw he had reached the con- 
clusion that indeed " a prophet might be mistaken" 
in ordinary matters of life. 

When he returned home in the evening, he told 
me that Brigham had received him very kindly, and 
had apologized, in his way, for the morning scene. 
The reconciliation made no change in my mind ; for 
I knew that, however frankly Mr. S. would forgive 
Brigham, there was too much of the Scotchman in 
his nature to allow him ever to forget it. But to get 
him to avow that Brigham was simply human, was a 
great step in the direction of future freedom. 

One circumstance followed another, and I saw 
growing upon Mr. S. a disposition to listen to and 
weigh what he heard ; and at the same time his 
confidence in divine inspiration began to dwindle 
gently away. I was contented, and believed that the 
day which I had long looked for was dawning at last. 

The strength of Mormonism consists in the " blind 



134 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 

obedience" of its disciples. Let them once question 
what they hear from the Prophet, and they are gone ! 
The quotation I have already given from Brigham's 
sermon illustrates this. He knew what he spoke. 
Instead of rebelling against Polygamy, had I only 
read the revelation carefully, and doubted its divine 
origin, I would have been saved a life of misery. It 
was only when I came to the conclusion that Joseph 
Smith never had this revelation from God that I was 
delivered from my former faith, and became once 
more happy. 

When I saw Mr. S. looking upon Brigham Young 
and his teachings and actions as he looked upon 
other men, I knew instinctively that he would finally 
conclude that Brigham was not only fallible, but even 
very liable to make mistakes. 

Mr. S. had been so long engaged in the defence of 
Mormonism, that it was deeply grounded in him. 
Its teachings and observances seemed to him beyond 
a doubt, and were strongly riveted in his mind. Its 
weak and doubtful points fled before his faith. When 
I heard him with others bringing up some of the 
questionable teachings of the church, criticising 
Brigham's " counsellings," and doubting some of his 
measures, and speaking of him as they would of any 
other of the brethren, I was satisfied that he could 
not long remain such as he once had been. 

Long years of submission, and the receiving, with- 
out question, a prophet's teaching as divine inspira- 
tion, necessarily benumbs the soul and withers its 
life, till unconsciously the victim becomes an abject 
slave — a mere automaton. 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 1 35 

With Mr. S., Mormonism had been every thing for 
a score of years and more. It had grown with his 
years, until it had become a part of himself. A tri- 
fling incident might possibly awaken doubts, but it 
required time to effect a perfect change. 

The measures adopted by Brigham in the spring 
of 1869, for the purpose of controlling the commerce 
of Utah, as well as the faith of the people, caused 
great discontent. The teachings of the Tabernacle 
were wild and arrogant ; Brigham assuming that it 
was his right to dictate in every thing, " even to the 
setting up of a stocking,'' (so he said,) or " to the 
ribbons that a woman should wear." What Brigham 
said, and the fanaticism that it created, aroused many 
of the people to opposition, and the more he observed 
the signs of the opposition, the more fierce he be- 
came in his denunciations, and harsh in his mea- 
sures. 

One Sunday evening, which I shall never forget, 
my husband came home and said to me, " President 
Young wants me to move the Telegraph" (a daily 
paper, of which Mr. S. was editor and proprietor,) 
" to Ogden." 

With the vividness of lightning, a glimpse of what 
was in store for us flashed across my mind, and I 
exclaimed, 

"What is that you say ?" 

He repeated, " President Young wants me to go to 
Ogden." 

" With the Telegraph f ' I inquired. 
" Yes," he replied. 

" Does he mean," I asked, " that you should leave 



I36 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 

all you have accomplished during these past years of 
labour, and begin again at Ogden ?" 

" He does/' answered Mr. S. 

" Surely, you must be deceived," I suggested. 

" No," he replied, " I am not deceived." 

" But who has told you this ?" I asked. 

" One of the Apostles," said he. 

" But," I questioned, " will you go ?" 

" What can I do ?" he replied. 

"Do!" I exclaimed; "why, I would tell him at 
once that I would not go." 

" Then," said he, " I shall be charged with rebel- 
lion." 

" But," I responded, " will you quietly and submis- 
sively lose the business that you have created by 
these years of struggle, without telling him what you 
think ?" 

" If I object to go," he replied, " Brigham will 
charge me with want of faith in the Lord, and I 
may as well close up my business and leave the 
church." 

" But surely," I questioned, " you will not yield to 
this despotism ?" 

" I don't know," he said ; " I do not see very clear- 
ly yet, but I shall know better after he has spoken to 
me. 

That night, little as I then thought it, and little as 
I then guessed what it would cost us, was the dawn- 
ing of the day of liberty to me. 

The following evening, my husband came home 
very sorrowful. I knew at once that he was unhap- 
py ; and the more he tried to conceal his trouble, the 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 1 37 



more I observed the depression under which he was 
labouring. 

" Have you seen the President ?" I inquired. 
" Yes, I have," he briefly replied. 
" And are you going to Ogden ?" I said. 
" Yes," he answered, " I am going." 
" You are ! " I exclaimed. 
" What can I do else ?" he asked. 
" Do !" said I ; " why, do what your own experience 
dictates." 

" You speak," said he, " like a woman." 

" And I am a woman," I replied, with warmth ; 
" but if you submit to this, you are only a slave !" 

" Oh ! be quiet," he said ; " let me at least have a 
little peace here." 

In the face of the most certain ruin, and with the 
urgent remonstrances of his best friends ringing in 
his ears, Mr. Stenhouse yielded to Brigham's order 
to " pull up the Telegraphy root and branch, and go 
to Ogden." 

As soon as my husband told me that he had been 
told to " pull up the Telegraph, root and branch, and 
go," I knew what that meant. It was like going 
into a desert and giving up all, simply to prove faith 
and obedience. 

"But surely, after all, you will not go?" 

He replied, " I have always obeyed ' counsel/ and 
I am not prepared now to disobey it. What can I 
do ? I must go." 

"Well," I answered, "you must do as you think 
best ; but if you would take my advice, you would 
tell Brigham Young plainly that you would not go. 



I38 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 

Tell him that you are the best judge of your own 
affairs, and that you can see clearly how obeying his 
instructions will bring ruin to your family." 

I felt that this would certainly be the case. I had 
always had a thorough contempt for what was called 
" asking counsel/' although occasionally I had been 
obliged to submit to it. I really could not understand 
why people should have brains at all if they were not 
to use them ; and I am sure I utterly failed to see the 
superiority of those who set themselves up as " coun- 
sellors" to the men whom they attempted to " coun- 
sel." Besides, I had often discovered that the coun- 
sel thus given was not always for the benefit of the 
person counselled. 

My husband carefully thought over the matter. I 
saw he was much troubled, but he came to the con- 
clusion that he would unreservedly accept the order, 
" obey," and go. 

It was of no use to resist, and so I held my tongue. 
Very often since, it has occurred to me that probably 
this was the best thing, after all, that he could do ; 
for it was, in a measure, the means of bringing him 
to realize his dependent position upon the will of 
Brigham Young. 

He went to visit Ogden, and on his return he said 
to me, " President Young might as well have sent 
me into a desert. He may perhaps not know it, for 
probably he does not comprehend the expenses of a 
daily paper ; but it will ruin me." 

I, of course, did not exult over this unpleasant ful- 
filment of my anticipations, for I knew too well how 
greatly it would affect both my family and myself. 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



139 



It had, however, as I hoped, the desired effect of 
adding to his growing convictions about Brigham and 
the priesthood, and with this I was satisfied. 

Since then I have often asked Mr. S. if he had not 
better have taken my advice, and he has answered 
me, " There is a period in every man's life in Mor- 
monism when he must show his obedience ; my time 
was then. I gave evidence of my obedience, and it 
brought ruin, as I expected. Henceforth I will fol- 
low the best experience of my life." 

Much as the trial had cost us, I rejoiced ; for I 
saw in this a renewal of his own manhood. 

Shortly after Mr. S. returned to Salt Lake City 
with the Telegraphy the Utah Magazine began to 
question Brigham's measures, and the editors assumed 
to speak to the people of their position. This was at 
once pronounced rebellion and apostasy. The Tele- 
graph took no part against the rebels, and that was 
construed to be " aid and comfort " to the enemy. 
Mr. S. could not oppose a movement that he felt was 
destined to shake the unchallenged power of the 
priesthood. 

I well remember Mr. S. writing an article upon 
" Progress," for the Telegraph. He wrote it at home, 
and read it to me, paragraph by paragraph, as he 
wrote it I thought he was " inspired j" the reason- 
ing was so just, and the words came so freely from 
his pen. When it was finished, and he read it to me 
entire, we looked at each other. I thought his look 
was asking my opinion, and I quickly replied, " Pub- 
lish it ; it is true." He said, " It is true, but it will 
bring trouble if published." " Never mind," I added, 



140 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 

" if it brings us to the door ; let us be true to the 
truth." 

It was published on the 2d of October, 1869. 

The semi-annual conference of the church was 
held that week, and continued in session five days. 
At the close of the session, on the Sunday afternoon, 
the Apostle Amasa Lyman, and Mr. William S. 
Godbe, soon after prominent men in the reform 
movement, came to dine with us, by previous ap- 
pointment. Mr. S. had gone to the post-office, but 
soon joined them in the parlour, carrying a small 
newspaper open in his hand as he entered. 

After the usual greetings he said, " Brethren, the 
ball is open ; hear this." In that little paper there 
was a letter reviewing the article upon " Progress," 
and with it the correspondent professed to reveal that 
there was a " movement " on foot in Salt Lake City 
to attack Brigham's assumptions, and make a strike 
for " civil and religious liberty ;" and that the arti- 
cle on "Progress," while it professed to treat of 
France under Louis Napoleon, meant Utah under 
Brigham Young. The article had just only been 
read a few minutes, and the gentlemen named, Mr. 
S., and myself, were looking with that vacant, think- 
ing, meditative stare which showed that each one was 
fully absorbed with the idea that there was something 
to come of it. At that very instant, Mr. Joseph A. 
Young, President Young's eldest son> entered the 
parlour. 

After friendly salutations, Mr. Young excused him- 
self from joining us at dinner ; and as we entered 
the dining-room, we instinctively turned to each other 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 141 



and remarked how singular it was that he should drop 
in upon us while his father was the subject of conver- 
sation and meditation. That, however, was all right. 

On the following Tuesday evening, I made Mr. Jo- 
seph A. Young acquainted with the feeling in opposi- 
tion to his father, and avowed that Mr. S. was in the 
hostile camp. On Saturday, seven elders, of which 
number Mr. S. was one, were attacked in " the School 
of the Prophets," and summoned to appear on the 
following Saturday. 

This was looked for ; but Brigham, in his anger, 
had gone too far, and " disfellowshipped them from 
the church of Jesus Christ, for irregular attendance 
at the school." Brigham's assumption of the right to 
disfellowship men from Christ because of irregular 
attendance at a school, brought Mr. S. to a conclu- 
sion. He said to me, " With such an assumption of 
authority, what will he not do next ? To submit to 
it is to acknowledge him absolute and me a slave. 
There is but one choice now — slavery or freedom. 
Cost me what it may, I shall be free." From that 
day we never attended a meeting of the Saints. In 
August of the following year, 1870, Mr. S. sent a re- 
spectful, kindly letter to the bishop of our Ward, stat- 
ing that he had not faith in Brigham's claim to an 
Infallible Priesthood, and that he ought to be cut off 
from the church. I added a postscript, stating that 
I wished to share his fate, although I little dreamed 
that in three days after that my request should have 
such a malignant fulfilment. 

We were going home on the Saturday night suc- 
ceeding our withdrawal from the church, a few mi- 



142 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 

nutes past ten o'clock. The night was very dark. 
Our residence is in the suburbs of the city, north of 
the Temple block, and the road is very quiet. As 
we went along we suddenly and dimly saw four men 
come out from under some trees a little distance 
from us. They separated, and two of them came 
forward and stumbled up against us, and two passed 
by the side of us. I thought for a moment that 
they were intoxicated, but it was soon clear that they 
were acting from design. 

As soon as they approached, they, one on each 
side, seized hold of my husband's arms, and he, al- 
though by no means deficient in strength, was thus 
rendered powerless. The men, I should state, were 
masked so that we could not distinguish their fea- 
tures. I imagine that they supposed I should be 
frightened and run away. But in this they had cal- 
culated wrongly. I still clung to my husband's arm, 
but with my left hand caught hold of one of the ruf- 
fians by the collar of his coat ; for I apprehended the 
worst, well knowing of what atrocities these men 
were capable. This considerably impeded their 
movements. The other two, who were likewise 
masked, stood a few feet distant, and seemed to hesi- 
tate for a moment. One of the men who held my 
husband's arm exclaimed, " Brethren, do your duty !" 
The voice was in an instant recognized as that of one 
of the policemen, whom Mr. S. and myself had patted 
on the head when a child in England. 

Instantly I saw them raise their arms. It was too 
dark to distinguish any thing definitely, and I thought 
they were about to kill us. We had both the same 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 1 43 

thought, and this probably would have been Mr. 
Stenhouse's fate had he been alone ; but I think that 
my presence somewhat disarranged their plans. A 
much less noble fate was reserved for us. I am 
ashamed to tell what they did. * * * Even 
now I shudder, as I recall the scenes of that night. 
I was nearly insane with rage and indignation. I felt 
at the moment that life was nothing to me, and I 
called to them to come and kill us. It would have 
been an honour and even pleasant to have been shot 
or killed by the assassin's knife, rather than endure 
such an indignity as this. 

Although the men who attacked us were masked, 
there is no question in our minds that they were two 
of the regular, and two of the special police. I have 
every reason to believe that their original intention 
was to kill Mr. S. About ten minutes before, they 
had seen him alone, and they did not believe that I 
should be with him. Had I run away and left him 
with them, I believe they would have beaten him to 
death. Men who would commit such an assault 
were capable of committing murder. 

When they had perpetrated this disgusting and 
brutal outrage, they turned and fled. We ran after 
them for some little distance ; but we had no arms 
or any thing to defend ourselves, and as there was 
another man lurking about a little distance in the 
direction in which they ran, we thought best not to 
go any further ; for we knew that they would not 
shrink from murder, if that would conceal what they 
had done. 

I declared in my anger that if there yet remained 



144 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 

one solitary link which bound me to Mormonism, it 
should be severed that night. Not that I blame the 
mass of the Mormon people ; for I know the honest 
hearts of that community, and that as a body they 
revolted at the atrocious wrong that was done us ; 
and although not one of them came openly to express 
that feeling to me, hundreds of them did so in private. 
I was sick for three days after, so that it was impos- 
sible to attend to business. I could not calm my 
agitated feelings or stifle my indignation. Probably 
I was wrong in giving way to anger ; but it seemed 
to me that nothing except revenge upon those horri- 
ble men could satisfy me. My husband and I felt 
sure that we knew who they were, but how could we 
swear to masked men ? Some time after, a wife of 
one of these men, whom we suspected, came to see 
me, and told me that she believed her husband had 
been engaged in the affair. It seems perhaps strange 
that any wife should do this ; but she had a great 
respect for me, and none at all for her husband, as 
he was very brutal to her. 

When I had sufficiently recovered to return to 
business, I went down to the city with my hus- 
band. In passing the house of D. H. Wells, the 
Mayor of the city, we saw him standing at a short 
distance from us ; but he made no attempt to come 
forward and express any regret. This I considered 
it was his place, as mayor of the city, to do ; and as 
an old friend I fully expected as much from him. No 
Mormon, as I before intimated, came purposely to 
sympathize with me ; but the whole of that day my 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 1 45 

store was filled with Gentiles,* and for several days 
after they kept coming to tell me how disgusted and 
indignant they were at such an abominable outrage. 
I received also many letters from different parts of 
the country, both within the Territory of Utah and 
outside of it. 

Mr. Joseph A. Young offered a reward to the chief 
of police on the night of the attack for the apprehen- 
sion of the ruffians, and a few " Gentile" friends of- 
fered a reward of $500 for evidence that would lead 
to their identification, but there was no response. 
A Mormon paper, in order to direct attention away 
from the guilty parties, tried to insinuate that it was 
caused by some " personal difficulty.'' This course 
was not a new one. When Dr. Robinson, a few years 
before, was murdered in Salt Lake City, the Taberna- 
cle insinuated that he had met his death in gam- 
bling. That gentleman was utterly innocent of gam- 
bling, and was not known to have an enemy. 

* The Mormons use the term " Gentiles" to designate all outside of 
the church, whether Christians, Jews, or any other religion, and in 
this sense it is used in this volume. When a man forsakes Mormon- 
ism, he does not become a " Gentile" again, but an "Apostate," 
which is a still more odious and opprobrious appellation among the 
Saints. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Recent Conclusions on Polygamy — Faith in the Doctrine declining — 
How Women in Utah feel — False Notions and Statements — Sophis- 
tries about Want of Faith — Opinions of Young Girls — Better 
Chances now — Changes operating in Utah — Brigham becomes 
fashionable ; he abandons his own Teachings — How a Man with 
two Wives cleverly escaped from Polygamy and Utah — Difficulties 
of Husbands when they leave the Faith — Effects of the Law of 1862 
— Domestic Sympathies — Evil Effects of Example upon Boys. 

I have watched the whole system of Polygamy 
closely, and have tried earnestly to discover wherein 
it was productive of any good ; but in not one single 
instance could I find, after the most diligent observa- 
tion, any but the very worst results. On the con- 
trary, it was the same story again and again repeated 
— evil — evil — evil ! 

That some men have practised Polygamy with 
honest intentions and a desire to " keep the com- 
mandments of God," I know well to be true. I re- 
spect such men even while they do so. They err in 
blindness, and I believe they suffer while they are 
willing to make the sacrifice, (for to such men it is a 
sacrifice ;) but it is only the first step that troubles 
them. They soon get over it. I know others in whom 
I had not this confidence — men who seem always 
ready and anxious to " live up to their privileges," as 
they call it, without regard to any sacred obligations. 

It has been frequently said to me in my travels, 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 147 

both in the Eastern and Western States, that gentle- 
men from Utah had been asked how the ladies sub- 
mitted to Polygamy, and that they had made answer, 
" Oh ! very well : they are perfectly happy, for they 
look upon its practice as a religious duty, and are 
satisfied and contented with it." 

Those women (if there be any ?) who prefer this 
state of things are few and far between, and wher- 
ever such a woman may be found, I am certain that 
it will be discovered that the husband is some worth- 
less fellow, or else so disagreeable in his family that 
the wives have no affection for him, and they there- 
fore seek the companionship of each other. 

Why gentlemen should make statements so very 
likely to mislead the public, I do not know. Possi- 
bly some of them really believe it ; for, as I before 
stated, where a man has more than one wife his 
wives are careful to conceal their real feehngs from 
him, for fear of creating a prejudice against them- 
selves and in favour of the other wife ; for whether 
a woman loves her husband or not, she does not like 
it to be said that she has been cast off for another ; 
and I know from experience that Mormon husbands 
are the very last to learn of their wives' feelings. 

Women who tell the world that they are happy 
and contented, if they would only express themselves 
freely would tell of their heart-aches, of their sleepless 
nights, and of their loneliness. Others could tell 
that, in spite of their husband's kindness to them, 
their hearts knew no joy or happiness. If a woman 
in this condition of mind were asked if she did not 
love her husband as formerly, very probably she would 



143 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



answer, " O dear ! no ; if I did, I could not live. The 
greatest trouble I had was to withdraw my affections 
from my husband and fix them on my children. If I 
had not done this, where would my children be ? — 
with their mother in the grave." Oh ! how true this 
is ! I know it — I feel it ! 

Heaven help these poor women ! If they could 
only know for themselves that this continued sacri- 
fice was not necessary, their very hearts would sing 
for joy. 

I once said to a lady holding a high position in the 
church, when she was persuading me to give another 
wife to my husband, " What good will it do me to 
give him another wife ? I cannot do it with a good 
feeling. I know that I should loathe both him and 
her ; and how could I expect to get any blessing 
from God by so doing ?" She answered, " If you had 
a loaf of bread to make, what would it matter how 
you felt while making it, so long as you did make it ?" 
That is just what the church authorities have thought : 
no matter how many women were crushed, or how 
many were sent to their graves, in the effort to es- 
tablish Polygamy, if only they could establish it. 

The young girls in Utah feel about Polygamy 
much as their mothers do. They like it so little that 
when one of the city girls marries a man who has 
already a wife or wives, it is generally supposed that 
she does so because he can keep her better than a 
younger man could. Until very recently, the young 
men in Utah were not generally very attractive to 
any sensible girl. They seemed to be destitute of 
ambition, but perhaps, after all, they were not so 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 1 49 

much to blame for that. Poor boys ! There was 
really but little else for them to do but to haul wood 
for their fathers' different families, and hunt stray 
cattle. 

It is now greatly different in Salt Lake City ; as 
young men can get remunerative employment, and 
are very willing to engage in useful work ; while 
a corresponding change is effected in their favour 
with the girls. There are very few sensible, educat- 
ed girls in Salt Lake City, who would to-day prefer 
Polygamy to monogamy : I doubt whether there is 
really one. 

The sermons, newspapers, and songs at one time 
were full of " the glory of the old man and the maiden 
going forth in the dance together ;" but the rapid 
change that is coming over the country and people 
is fast dispelling all this. In a few years more, the 
anxiety to fulfil ancient Hebrew predictions at the 
cruel sacrifice of youth, beauty, and honourable maid- 
enly ambition, will disappear and be looked back upon 
by the Mormons themselves as follies of the past. 
When the Mormons lived in log huts and " dug-outs," 
wore coarse, homespun garments, drank "coffee" 
made of roasted barley and wheat, and their women 
and children wore shakers and sun-bonnets in sum- 
mer, and covered their heads in winter with cravats 
and shawls, an extra wife, or an extra half-dozen 
wives, could be very easily provided for. In that 
condition of poverty and isolation, the women did 
truly " eat their own bread and wear their own appa- 
rel." The commercial development of the country 
has changed every thing and every body ; and in no 



150 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 

one has the change been more observed than on 
Brigham Young himself. Accordingly, Polygamy is 
becoming unpopular, and a natural desire for a higher 
condition in life is taking its place. 

Aware of the marked difference in his own appea- 
rance, and in the comforts and luxuries with which 
himself and family are surrounded, Brigham tries to 
excuse himself for wearing broadcloth by pleading 
the old-fashioned weakness of Eden, " The woman 
tempted me" — " My wives insist that I shall wear 
better clothes." This is the only instance wherein 
Brigham Young was ever known to be ruled by his 
wives ! 

While his family was confined to his first fifteen or 
sixteen wives, good women of faith and hard labour, 
he was plain, home-clad " Brother Brigham but with 
the later additions of vanity and fashion to his house- 
hold, he found his Delilah. And if he lives long 
enough, at the rate he has been going on of late 
years, he will soon rival Solomon in more ways than 
one. He has apostatized further from his first teach- 
ings of faith and on Polygamy than any man in Mor- 
monism. 

When once a Mormon has entered into that order 
of marriage, he is no longer a free man ; he is bound 
and cannot help himself, and this the authorities 
know. Where could a man go to outside of Utah 
with more than one wife ? He must remain where 
he is, or give up his family. 

That many a man has been counselled to add 
wives to his first with the intention of binding him 
to the church and hindering him from either aposta- 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 151 

tizing or leaving the country, is a commonly under- 
stood fact ; and many a man has keenly felt the 
wrong to himself as well as to his wife, when neither 
of them desired to disturb the peaceful harmony of 
their family happiness by the experiment of imitating 
the domestic life of the Jewish Patriarchs. 

One man only of my acquaintance has been suc- 
cessful in breaking his polygamic relations and in 
leaving the country. He was in business as a mer- 
chant, and apparently tied up, so that he could not 
leave ; but as his wives were as anxious as he was to 
break up the relationship, their movements were so 
well concealed that none of the authorities of the 
church had the slightest idea of his intended depar- 
ture. His family had gone a few miles into the 
country on a visit, and he left his store with his coat 
off, and rode out of the town in a grain-wagon as if 
he were going to the grist-mill. The overland mail- 
stage picked him up a few miles from Salt Lake City, 
and a few miles further, the family were taken into 
the stage, and they were off to California. The se- 
cond wife, who had no children, acquiesced in the 
right of the first wife to remain with the husband. 
She got a satisfactory portion of his property, became 
a " Miss" again, and is to-day in California, rejoicing 
in her deliverance. 

I know a gentleman in Salt Lake City who was 
urgently and constantly " counselled" to take a second 
wife. For years he resisted, but finally gave in to the 
importunities of counsel, as he saw that he must do 
so or rebel. As he could not do the latter conscien- 
tiously, he took a pure and beautiful girl for his second 



152 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 

wife. Now, when he is no longer under the same re- 
ligious obligations, he realizes that he is bound to 
protect and support her ; yet he knows that in living 
with her, he is violating the laws of the land. In 
obeying " counsel," he felt that he had done right in 
a religious sense ; but, as a man and citizen, he 
knows that he is not acting as he should, and that is 
one of the intended difficulties in leaving the church. 

It is related of Joseph Smith that when he got 
Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball to take other 
wives he was perfectly delighted, because, as he ex- 
pressed it, he had got them " as much in the mud as 
he was in the mire." He was liable to indictment 
for bigamy in Illinois when he took other wives, and 
they were then in the same predicament. Many men 
of faith in Utah have become polygamists, not from 
any personal desire on their part to assume either its 
obligations or possess its glory, but purely to share 
in the risks and penalties of violated law with their 
brethren. Such appeals to the patriotism and devo- 
tion of men to their religion, accounts for much that 
has been done. They obeyed in haste, and repented 
at leisure. 

Brigham Young's first violation of the law against 
Polygamy was regarded by the Saints, whether he 
intended it or not, as an expression of his confidence 
in God and his defiance of Congress. The faithful 
and believing brethren could not do less than follow 
the example of their leader. The law of 1862 against 
Polygamy has made very many more polygamists in 
Utah than existed there before. This opposition was 
not confined to the men only : the women in many 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 1 53 

instances partook of the same spirit ; and in their 
moments of enthusiasm have seconded their hus- 
bands, but have afterwards had bitter cause to re- 
pent. 

The greatest enemy to Polygamy is found in al- 
most every polygamic family. It may be concealed ; 
but it nevertheless is there, and only requires time to 
accomplish its overthrow. This enemy is the great 
dislike or repugnance that many children born in 
Polygamy have to that system. It can have no foe 
more powerful than this. If the husband is neglect- 
ful of his wife, the son comes to the aid and protec- 
tion of his mother ; while the gentle, loving daughter 
consoles her with sweet sympathy. 

Between mother and children there exists a bond 
of union in which the father has no part. They coun- 
sel with each other ; and the result of their commun- 
ings is unfavourable to Polygamy. This is indeed 
the leaven which will eventually permeate the w T hole 
system of Mormonism. 

It is painful to witness among the rising generation 
of boys in Utah the contempt which many evince 
for every thing that a woman says or does, looking 
upon her as an inferior being. But this is not to be 
wondered at, when it is remembered what kind of 
teaching they have had in the Tabernacle, and the 
example of some of their own fathers. The sermons 
abound with allusions to woman's dependence upon 
men. Even her salvation through Jesus Christ has 
to be obtained through her husband ! How much 
greater, then, must man be, with his numerous wives, 
than either of the wives is individually. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



An Interesting Courtship — Brigham Young seeks another Wife- 
Martha Brotherton tells her Story of the Wooing — Abstract of her 
History— "Tricks that are Vain" — "Are you ready to take Coun- 
sel?" — Joseph Smith's little Room — "Positively No Admittance" 
— Joseph comes in — He assists Brigham's Courtship — The Prophet 
a Proxy Lover — "A few Questions" — " Lawful and Right" — The 
best Man in the World, but me ! — " 1 'will have a kiss, anyhow !" — 
" Don't you believe in me ?" — " If you accept Brigham, you shall 
be blessed" — "If he turns you off, I will take you on" — "Not 
exactly, sir." 

As I have written so much of the troubles of the 
sisters, perhaps it will be as well to give the reader 
an idea of the trials and difficulties which the breth- 
ren had to contend with when they first attempted 
the introduction of Polygamy. To do this, I shall 
give the correspondence of Miss Martha Brotherton, 
relating a very interesting courtship between herself 
and Brigham Young. I would have the reader re- 
mark that this correspondence distinctly proves that 
Polygamy was taught by the heads of the Church 
before the Prophet received the professed revelation. 

This account was published just a year — lacking 
one day — before the revelation on Polygamy was 
given to Joseph Smith. It was published in Boston, 
in book form, in 1842. The revelation was given at 
Nauvoo,on the 12th of July, 1843. 

I do not vouch for the facts stated by Miss Brother- 
ton ; but those who were acquainted with Elder Heber 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



155 



C. Kimball, and those who know Brigham Young 
and the style of address of the Mormon elders when 
Polygamy first was presented to the Saints, will very 
readily accept the lady's statements as more than 
probable. The language is familiar to the Mormons. 
What a high and exalted idea Joseph Smith must 
have had of the sacredness of marriage when he told 
the young lady that " if Brigham turned her off" he 
" would take her on." And how immaculate was 
Brigham Young's morality, when he suggested a 
clandestine marriage there and then, without the 
knowledge of her parents. 

The following is the letter referred to : 

* "St. Louis, Missouri, July 13th, a.d. 1842. 

***** 

" Dear Sir : I left Warsaw a short time since for 
this city, and having been called upon by you, through 
the Sangamo Journal, to come out and disclose to 
the world the facts of the case in relation to certain 
propositions made to me, at Nauvoo, by some of the 
Mormon leaders, I now proceed to respond to the 
call, and discharge what I consider to be a duty de- 
volving upon me as an innocent, but insulted and 
abused female. I had been at Nauvoo nearly three 
weeks, during which time my father's family received 
frequent visits from Elders Brigham Young and 
Heber C. Kimball, two of the Mormon Apostles ; 
when, early one morning, they both came to my 
brother-in-law's (John Mcllwrick's) house, at which 
place I was then on a visit, and particularly re- 

* Mormonism Exposed, p. 236. 



i$6 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 

quested me to go and spend a few days with 
them. I told them I could not at that time, as 
my brother-in-law was not at home ; however, they 
urged me to go the next day and spend one day 
with them. The day being fine, I accordingly went. 
When I arrived at the foot of the hill, Young and 
Kimball were standing conversing together. They 
both came to me, and, after several flattering compli- 
ments, Kimball wished me to go to his house first. 
I said it was immaterial to me, and went accordingly. 
We had not, however, gone many steps when Young 
suddenly stopped and said he would go to that bro- 
ther's, (pointing to a little log hut a few yards distant,) 
and tell him that you (speaking to Kimball) and Bro- 
ther Glover, or Grover, (I do not remember which,) 
will value his land. When he had gone, Kimball 
turned to me and said, i Martha, I want you to say to 
my wife, when you go to my house, that you want to 
buy some things at Joseph's store, (Joseph Smith's,) 
and I will say I am going with you to show you the 
way. You know you want to see the Prophet, and 
you will then have an opportunity/ I made no reply. 
Young again made his appearance, and the subject 
was dropped. We soon reached Kimball's house, 
when Young took his leave, saying, ' 1 shall see you 
again, Martha.' I remained at Kimball's nearly an 
hour ; when Kimball, seeing I would not tell the lies 
he wished me to, told them to his wife himself. He 
then went and whispered in her ear, and asked if that 
would please her. ' Yes,' said she, ' or I can go along 
with you and Martha.' ' No,' said he, ' I have some 
business to do, and I will call for you afterwards to 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY". I 57 

go with me to the debate/ meaning the debate be- 
tween yourself and Joseph. To this she consented. 
So Kimball and I went to the store together. As we 
were going along, he said, ' Sister Martha, are you 
willing to do ail that the Prophet requires you to do ? ' 
I said, I believed I was — thinking, of course, he 
would require nothing wrong. ' Then/ said he, ' are 
you ready to take counsel ? ' I answered in the affir- 
mative, thinking of the great and glorious blessings 
that had been pronounced upon my head if I adhered 
to the counsel of those placed over me in the Lord. 
' Well/ said he ' there are many things revealed in 
these last days that the world would laugh and scoff 
at ; but unto us is given to know the mysteries of the 
kingdom/ He further observed, ' Martha, you must 
learn to hold your tongue, and it will be well with 
you. You will see Joseph, and very likely will have 
some conversation with him, and he will tell you 
what you shall do/ When we reached the building, 
he led me up some stairs to a small room, the door of 
which was locked, and on it the following inscription, 
6 Positively no admittance/ He observed, ' Ah ! Bro- 
ther Joseph must be sick, for, strange to say, he is 
not here. Come down into the tithing-office, Martha/ 
He then left me in the tithing-office, and went out, I 
know not where. In this office were two men writ- 
ing, one of whom, William Clayton, I had seen in 
England ; the other I did not know. Young came 
in and seated himself before me, and asked where 
Kimball was. I said he had gone out. He said it 
was all right. Soon after, Joseph came in and spoke 
to one of the clerks, and then went up-stairs, followed 



158 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 

by Young. Immediately after, Kimball came in. 
* Now, Martha/ said he, ' the Prophet has come ; 
come up-stairs/ I went, and we found Young and 
the Prophet alone. I was introduced to the Prophet 
by Young. Joseph offered me his seat, and, to my 
astonishment, the moment I was seated, Joseph and 
Kimball walked out of the room, and left me with 
Young, who arose, locked the door, closed the win- 
dow, and drew the curtain. He then came and sat 
before me and said, ' This is our private room, Mar- 
tha/ ■ Indeed, sir/ said I ; i I must be highly ho- 
noured to be permitted to enter it/ He smiled, and 
then proceeded, ' Sister Martha, I want to ask you a 
few questions ; will you answer them ? ' 1 Yes, sir/ 
said I. i And will you promise not to mention them 
to any one V 'If it is your desire, sir/ said I, 1 1 will 
not/ ' And you will not think any the worse of me 
for it ; will you, Martha ? ' said he. ' No, sir/ I re- 
plied. i Well/ said he, ' what are your feelings to- 
ward me?' I replied, ' My feelings are just the same 
toward you that they ever were, sir/ 1 But, to come 
to the point more closely/ said he, ' have not you an 
affection for me, that, were it lawful and right, you 
would accept of me for your husband and com- 
panion ?' My feelings at this moment were inde- 
scribable. God only knows them. What, thought I, 
are these men, that I thought almost perfection it- 
self, deceivers ? and is all my fancied happiness but 
a dream ? 'Twas even so ; but my next thought was, 
which is the best way for me to act at this time ? If 
I say No, they may do as they think proper ; and to 
say Yes, I never would. So I considered it best to 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 159 

ask for time to think and pray about it. I therefore 
said, 1 If it was lawful and right, perhaps I might ; but 
you know, sir, it is not/ * Well, but/ said he, 1 Bro- 
ther Joseph has had a revelation from God that it is 
lawful and right for a man to have two wives ; for, as 
it was in the days of Abraham, so it shall be in these 
last days, and whoever is the first that is willing to 
take up the cross will receive the greatest blessings ; 
and, if you will accept of me, I will take you straight 
to the celestial kingdom ; and, if you will have me in 
this world, I will have you in that which is to come, 
and Brother Joseph will marry us here to-day, and 
you can go home this evening, and your parents will 
not know any thing about it/ ' Sir/ said I, ' I should 
not like to do any thing of the kind without the per- 
mission of my parents/ ' Well, but/ said he, * you 
are of age, are you not ?' \ No, sir/ said I ; ' I shall 
not be until the 24th of May/ ' Well/ said he, ' that 
does not make any difference. You will be of age 
before they know, and you need not fear. If you will 
take my counsel, it will be well with you, for I know 
it to be right before God ; and if there is any sin in 
it, I will answer for it. But Brother Joseph wishes 
to have some talk with you on the subject ; he will 
explain things ; will you hear him V ' I do not mind/ 
said I. £ Well, but I want you to say something/ 
said he. • I want to think about it/ said I. 1 Well/ 
said he, ' I will have a kiss, anyhow/ and then rose, 
and said he would bring Joseph. He then unlocked 
the door, and took the key, and locked me up alone. 
He was absent about ten minutes, and then returned 
with Joseph. 1 Well/ said Young, 1 Sister Martha 

j 



l60 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 

would be willing, if she knew it was lawful and right 
before God.' ' Well, Martha/ said Joseph, ■ it is law- 
ful and right before God — I know it is. Look here, 
sis ; don't you believe in me/ I did not answer. 
' Well, Martha/ said Joseph, ' just go ahead, and do 
as Brigham wants you to ; he is the best man in the 
world, except me/ ■ Oh ! ' said'Brigham, ' then you are 
as good.' ' Yes/ said Joseph. ' Well/ said Young, 
'we believe Joseph to be a Prophet. I have known 
him near eight years, and have always found him the 
same/ ' Yes/ said Joseph, 1 and I know that this is 
lawful and right before God, and if there is any sin 
in it, I will answer for it before God ; and I have the 
keys of the kingdom, and whatever I bind on earth 
is bound in heaven, and whatever I loose on earth 
is loosed in heaven ; and if you will accept of Brig- 
ham, you shall be blessed — God shall bless you, and 
my blessing shall rest upon you ; and, if you will be 
led by him, you will do well ; for I know that Brig- 
ham will do well by you, and if he don't do his duty 
to you, come to me, and I will make him ; and if you 
do not like it in a month or two, come to me and I 
will make you free again ; and if he turns you off, I 
will take you on.' ' Sir,' said I, rather warmly, ' it 
will be too late to think in a month or two after. I 
want time to think first/ ' Well, but/ said he, ' the 
old proverb is, " Nothing ventured, nothing gained 
and it would be the greatest blessing that was ever 
bestowed upon you.' ' Yes/ said Young, ' and you 
will never have reason to repent it — that is, if I do 
not turn from righteousness, and that, I trust, I never 
shall ; for I believe God, who has kept me so long, 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. l6l 

will continue to keep me faithful. Did you ever see 
me act in any way wrong in England, Martha ? ' 1 No, 
sir/ said I. 1 No/ said he ; ' neither can any one else 
lay any thing to my charge.' ' Well, then,' said Jo- 
seph, ' what are you afraid of, sis ? Come, let me do 
the business for you.' ' Sir/ said I, ' do let me have 
a little time to think about it, and I will promise not 
to mention it to any one.' ( Well, but look here/ 
said he ; 'you know a fellow will never be damned 
for doing the best he knows how.' ' Well, then,' said 
I, ' the best way I know of is, to go home and think 
and pray about it.' ' Well/ said Young, ' I shall leave 
it with Brother Joseph, whether it would be best for 
you to have time or not.' i Well/ said Joseph, 4 I see 
no harm in her having time to think, if she will not 
fall into temptation.' ' O sir ! ' said I, ■ there is no 
fear of my falling into temptation.' ' Well, but/ said 
Brigham, ' you must promise me you will never men- 
tion it to any one.' ' I do promise it/ said I. ' Well/ 
said Joseph, 'you must promise me the same.' I 
promised him the same. ' Upon your honour/ said 
he, 1 you will not tell.' ' No, sir ; I will lose my life 
first,' said I. ' Well, that will do/ said he ; ' that is 
the principle we go upon. I think I can trust you, 
Martha/ said he. ' Yes/ said I, ' I think you ought.' 
Joseph said, ' She looks as if she could keep a secret.' 
I then rose to go, when Joseph commenced to beg of 
me again. He said it was the best opportunity they 
might have for months, for the room was often en- 
gaged. I, however, had determined what to do. 
' Well/ said Young, ' I will see you to-morrow. I am 
going to preach at the school-house opposite your 



1 62 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 

house. I have never preached there yet ; you will 
be there, I suppose/ ' Yes/ said I. The next day 
being Sunday, I sat down, instead of going to meet- 
ing, and wrote the conversation, and gave it to my 
sister, who was not a little surprised ; but she said it 
would be best to go to meeting in the afternoon. 
We went, and Young administered the sacrament. 
After it was over, I was passing out, and Young 
stopped me, saying, 'Wait, Martha; I am coming/ 
I said, ' I cannot ; my sister is waiting for me/ He 
then threw his coat over his shoulders, and followed 
me out, and whispered, ' Have you made up your 
mind, Martha ? 1 ' Not exactly, sir/ said I ; and we 
parted. I shall proceed to a justice of the peace, and 
make oath to the truth of these statements, and you 
are at liberty to make what use of them you may 
think best. 

" Yours respectfully, 

" Martha A. Brotherton. 

" Sworn to and subscribed before me, this 13th day 
of July, a.d. 1842. 

" Du BOUFFAY FREMON, 

" Justice of the Peace for St. Louis County/ 1 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



Marriage — The Age for Marrying — Seventy and Seventeen — Women 
privileged to choose their own Husbands — Some Women make a 
Choice — Joseph's Widows — " Serving for seven Years" — " Celes- 
tial Marriages" — Baptism and Marriage for the Dead — Saving one's 
Ancestors ad infinitum— yiaxrymg "for Time and for Eternity" — 
The Register at Salt Lake City, from which the World shall be 
judged — Difficulties of "proxy" Marriages — "Proxies" for the 
Empress Josephine and Napoleon I. — " The next best Thing" — 
Joseph's unproductive Polygamy — Divorce — Woman's solitary Pri- 
vilege — -Divorce for ten Dollars! — Re-marrying — "Affinity" — 
Shocking Instance of self-fulfilling a " Revelation" — Perverted 
Heroism — Brother Hyde's Argument — The Woman with seven 
Husbands — Statistical Facts. 

The dominant principle of Mormonism is marriage, 
and the theory that men and women are not perfect 
without each other. The man is not perfect with- 
out the woman, nor is the woman without the man, 
in the Lord. 

Every man and every woman must be married 
some time or other. They cannot otherwise attain 
to glory, and would be " angels," or servants to the 
Celestial Saints. The woman ought to be married 
but once ; the man may be married as often as he 
pleases, if he can provide for his wives and their 
families. 

There is no particular age specified as proper for 
marriage, but the younger the girl is, the better. 
It is seldom that there are any girls married under 
fifteen years of age ; but sixteen is a very sweet age, 

I 



1 64 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



and very desirable for men, themselves ranging in 
years from forty-five to seventy and over. An un- 
married girl in Utah is old at twenty, and it is rarely 
the case that any attractive girl passes out of her 
teens before she is wedded.* 

The boys seldom marry so early, but if capable of 
supporting themselves, the accumulation of property 
and experience are neither very necessary to becom- 
ing a husband. The teachings of the priesthood 
have generally discountenanced prudential prepara- 
tions that are common elsewhere. The chief object 
has been rather to encourage an increase of " the 
kingdom," than to seek the personal happiness of the 
married pair. 

In any other community, it would be remarked if a 
man of fifty, sixty, or seventy years of age should be 
paying his addresses to a girl of seventeen. In 
Utah, there is no attention paid to it ; and not infre- 
quently, married men with several wives may be seen 
courting and marrying girls much younger than their 
own daughters. It is a great wrong to the girls. 
They are too young to see the consequences of their 
folly at the outset, and the men who seek them for 
wives are too selfish to draw their attention to the 
error. 

It is very amusing to see a vain, silly old man try- 
ing to be young again — dyeing his hair, and aping 

* Since the above was written, the Utah Legislature has entertained 
a bill as follows. : "A bill has been offered and referred to a commit- 
tee regulating marriage. It provides that males of fifteen years and 
females of twelve years of age may contract marriage, with the con- 
sent of parents or guardians." — New -York Herald, Jan. 27th, 1872. 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 1 65 

the fancies of juvenile courtship. This sight is any 
thing but rare among the Mormons. I knew a man 
who objected to his daughter being married, as she 
was only a few months over sixteen. The married 
man who was courting the young lady, tersely re- 
plied to the father, " Yes, she is very young ; she 
is six months younger than my sister whom you are 
courting." The sarcasm of the answer was enough, 
and in the course of time he got the daughter. 

In the first years of polygamous experience, the 
elders tried in their teachings to give the institution 
of the patriarchs as favourable an appearance as pos- 
sible, and told the sisters who had been neglected, 
that it was their "privilege" to choose their own 
husbands. This had some practical results ; but the 
acknowledgment of it as a principle has never been 
much dwelt upon in the pulpit, as it has its inconve- 
niences. 

After the death of Joseph Smith, something had 
to be done for his numerous " widows ;" and when 
the church was travelling across the plains, this 
" privilege" was extended to them to " choose" their 
future husbands. Very reluctantly Brigham accepted 
the preference of one of these " widows," while an- 
other of them manifested in a similar way her pre- 
ference for his counsellor — Heber. 

A lady called one day upon a prominent bishop, 
north of Salt Lake City, whom I knew very well, and 
sought his counsel " in the interest " of her daughter. 
The mother related that a young man wanted to 
marry the daughter, but she did not love him ; she had 
a preference for a gentleman already married. What 



1 66 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 

was she to do ? That was the subject upon which 
she wanted the bishop's counsel. With a ready an- 
swer for every one, the bishop saw no difficulty. 
" Go/' said he, " to the married man, and tell him 
that your daughter loves him, and it is his duty to 
marry her." The task was soon accomplished ; the 
kind mother smiled and blushed a little, and then 
said, "Bishop, thou art the man !" The bishop could 
do no other than follow his own " counsel." He was 
in comfortable circumstances, and the young lady 
shortly after became wife number six or seven of his 
household. 

Many such cases of the sisters choosing husbands 
have occurred, and sometimes with very satisfactory 
results. When it is really a case of affection on the 
lady's part, and the selected husband is a liberally 
disposed man, the affair goes off as well as any mar- 
riage of his own choosing ; but when the arrange- 
ment is not an " affinity" affair, the lady receives very 
little attention, and often lives to repent of her 
choice. 

A very excellent Englishwoman is said to have 
entered Brigham's family as a domestic, and from her 
devotion to her faith, and affection for the Prophet, 
it is related that she served, like Jacob in the house 
of Laban, seven years, to obtain her choice. She is a 
woman of good sense, and illustrates, in her quiet and 
almost solitary life, the tenacity of affection, even if 
only coldly returned. With a son that she has added 
to the Prophet's family, she lives apparently con- 
tented. Another lady was less fortunate. The 
Prophet passed through the form of sealing and regis- 



• 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 1 67 

tering her name upon the " Book of Life," but there 
the marriage ended. She lives in all the loneliness 
of married spinsterhood. Brigham honoured the law 
of " privilege," and permitted her to be called by his 
name. 

What I have written of marriage hitherto has only 
been that which appertained to this world. I have 
now to give the Mormon views of a continuance of 
this marriage in the celestial world. 

The Mormon priesthood claim that there is no 
legal and holy marriage outside of their church, and 
that all the Gentiles are, therefore, in the sight of 
God, living in sin. If this is true of the present age, 
it must necessarily be true of all the ages that have 
intervened, from the days of the fishermen of Galilee, 
to the advent of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young ; 
for the latter claim that no true priesthood has been 
upon the earth till restored by Peter, James, and 
John, to Joseph Smith. 

j As all earthly associations are the foundations for 
/eternal institutions, the marital relations naturally 
' claim the highest and first attention of the Saints. 
The glory of a Saint in the world to come is, there- 
fore, predicated upon the foundation laid here for 
that glory. Woman is the glory of man ; children 
are the glory of woman ; the more wives, the greater 
glory to the man ; the more children, the greater 
glory to the woman. 

Out of this faith comes the novel doctrine that it 
is not only the duty of men to multiply wives to 
themselves here, but that it also devolves upon them 
to see that all their relatives who have died are 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



placed in a position in the world to come, where they 
also can have wives and children associated with their 
names, and thus increase their glory. Believing also 
in the rejuvenation of the aged beyond the veil, it is 
not uncommon to learn of some lady of sixty win- 
ters being " sealed " to a brother of half her age, and 
bearing his name before the community. 

With a blooming bride of seventeen on one side, 
the Mormon elder may occasionally be seen (though 
not often) at his family table, with a grandmotherly 
lady at his other side, and both are his wives. The 
younger one seeks his glory now ; the other will/ 
when hereafter she is rejuvenated, seek his glory in 
the next world. These are matters on which expli- 
citness is not particularly necessary. It is, however, 
very creditable to the faith of a young Mormon elder 
for him to provide for the declining years of the aged 
spinster or widow. When the old lady has money 
in her own right, she can literally say that " she eats 
her own bread and wears her own apparel ;" and it is 
seldom that the condition of which I have written is 
seen without some such consideration. 

With this explanation, the reader will readily un- 
derstand the doctrine, not only of Mormon men and 
women being married themselves for time and eter- 
nity, but they will also comprehend what is meant by 
" proxy wives" and " proxy husbands." For illustra- 
tion : a man and his wife in Salt Lake City are mar- 
ried by the priesthood ; they are married legally — as 
" the Lord " wants it. There is nothing that can 
separate this man and wife in time and in eternity 
but adultery or " apostasy," unless the priesthood 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 1 69 



find some other reason, which they sometimes have 
done. 

A record of Mormon marriages is preserved in the 
archives of the church, and only out of these records 
the world will be judged. It is therefore necessary that 
the names of my father and mother, and every other 
person's father and mother should be recorded on the 
books in Salt Lake City as man and wife, otherwise 
they would be as "angels," strolling about in the up- 
per regions without any particular marital relation- 
ship, j Should, however, my husband and myself 
agree that we shall be married as " proxies" for my 
father and mother, or for his father and mother, then 
we go to the "Endowment House" and personate the 
dead, each according to sex, and that is recorded.^ 
By this devotion and care on our part, Mr. and Mrs. 
Stenhouse, the elder, would then, but not before, be 
duly entitled to be husband and wife in the other 
world, j As Mr. Stenhouse pere had but one wife, his 
glory would necessarily be very limited, and it would 
become the duty of Mr. Stenhouse fils to see that he 
had some extra wives sealed to him for his father, j 
As a dutiful son, the living, believing Stenhouse 
should see that his grandfather, great-grandfather, 
and all their fathers, right back to the first ages of 
Christianity, or even, possibly, as far back as old 
father Adam, were secured the same privileges. 

To be consistently careful of his progenitors, and 
their happiness and glory in the world to come, the 
same attentions and courtesies should be extended to 
all my husband's brothers, and to his uncles, as well 
as to all my brothers, uncles, etc., up to the begin- 



170 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 

ning of time. The mothers are necessarily cared for 
in the marriage with fathers ; but all our sisters and 
aunts have to be provided for in the same way. 
They must all be married, and the men clothed with 
the glory of numerous wives, and the women with 
the glory of many children. 

As in life all the marriages have not been pleasant, 
it would be somewhat difficult to determine, among 
our dead, who wanted to know each other then, and 
be reunited in eternal marriage as they had been on 
earth. Besides these, difficulties innumerable and 
insurmountable spring up. I might be looking out 
for some maiden aunt or spinster sister who had 
never had their hearts touched by the tender pas- 
sion, or perhaps might have set their affections on 
some particular person, and then to seal them to an- 
other would be rather awkward. In all this it would 
be very cruel if some were forgotten, or if others 
should be united, when perhaps they had waited with 
anxiety for death to set them free. 

I am afraid that I am getting lost in the magni- 
tude and extent of the Mormon obligations for the 
dead, and I shall, therefore, stop here upon that 
point. 

I was much amused at learning, in Salt Lake City, 
that a French lady of my acquaintance had been 
baptized as " proxy" for the Empress Josephine, 
while her son had stood for Napoleon I. How much 
further the mother and son carried their admiration 
for the imperial pair, I know not ; but it would be 
consistent for them to have been proxies for Joseph- 
ine and Napoleon in marriage, and for the son to have 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 171 



recorded in the archives of the " Endowment House" 
that he had stood proxy for Napoleon to be ordained 
a Mormon elder. Following that, he could also have 
had " sealed " to Napoleon any maiden of Utah, or 
any number of maidens who had an admiration for 
the prisoner of St. Helena.* 

Illustrative of the folly, if not profanity, to which 
some carry this teaching, I was told of a lady who 
once asked Brigham Young if she could not be 
" sealed " to Jesus Christ, as one of His wives. Brig- 
ham replied that he could not go thus far, but he 
would do the next best thing, and that was to have 
her " sealed " to Joseph Smith. Had the lady to 
whom I refer been an ignorant semi-savage of Asia 
or Africa, or a squaw of the Rocky Mountains, this 
could readily have been understood ; but when I 
assure the reader that the lady in question was edu- 
cated in New-England, and held a respectable social 
position there before she embraced Mormonism, the 
terrible extent of her credulity can be imagined.! 

Consistently with all this complication of mar- 

* General Washington has also in a similar way been kindly cared 
for by the Mormons. Judge Adams, of Springfield, was baptized as 
proxy for him, and he is now a member of the " Church and King- 
dom" established by Joseph Smith. 

t The Mormon Apostles insist that Jesus Christ was a polygamist ; 
that the sisters Martha and Mary were two of his wives, and that the 
marriage at Cana of Galilee, when the water was turned into wine, 
was one of Christ's bridal feasts. According to the Mormon faith, 
the lady alluded to above was, therefore, not so inconsistent in her 
request as might otherwise be supposed. Yet few persons can hear 
of such a desire being expressed, without considering it to be simply 
a bold profanity. Had I not heard the statement from the most reli- 
able source, I should not have even named it. 



172 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 

riages, another distinctive feature in Utah Polygamy 
is the raising up of children to the dead. When one 
of the prominent Mormons died some years ago, his 
five or seven wives, with their families and property, 
passed over to the care of his young nephew — one of 
the Apostles. The nephew had already two or three 
wives of his own, but that was a small consideration, 
and he assumed the extra responsibility. All the 
offspring of this plural marriage are the children of 
the deceased, and are to be " claimed " by him in the 
resurrection. 

^Though the object in instituting Polygamy is said 
to have been the " raising up of a holy seed," it is 
not a little surprising that Joseph Smith, through 
whom the revelation is given, notwithstanding his 
numerous wives, had no children born to him in 
Polygamy. \ Since his death, however, his brethren 
have done well for him, and his posterity is nume- 
rous. One of the finest families of Brigham Young 
will one day pass away to the account of Joseph, his 
predecessor. The lady was sealed to Joseph for time 
and eternity, and she is therefore wholly his. But 
Joseph died ; and, as the widow was young and hand- 
some, from respect to the dead, Brigham assumed 
the responsibility of being a proxy husband to her 
during her lifetime. Devotion to the deceased, of 
course, demands that no love beyond that of brother- 
ly and sisterly affection should spring up between 
them. 

All this has, theoretically, a very devotional turn ; 
but I am afraid humanity has something to say in it, 
as the lady in question has a very large family to 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



173 



Joseph, while another lady of Brigham's household 
has but one daughter to the dead Prophet, and other 
wives of Joseph have had a similarly diversified expe- 
rience. 

With these numerous classifications of marriage, 
some from affection and others from necessity, or 
faith, or obligation, it would be natural to look for a 
law of divorce almost as large and liberal as that of 
the marriage itself. This is the case. It is easy to 
get married in Utah, and it is quite as easy to get 
unmarried. But the leading actors are reversed. 
Men marry the women : the women divorce the men ; 
and this is about the only rational and just thing 
there is in connexion with the Mormon marriages. 

The causes of divorce are as numerous as the 
ordinary disagreement between individuals ; and the 
facility of obtaining a divorce leads often to very 
strange complications. 

The first wife among the Mormons is not inten- 
tionally more privileged than the twentieth wife ; but 
no first wife ever forgets that she is the legal wife of 
her husband, and that the priesthood cannot interfere 
with her status. Should the first wife have cause of 
complaint and seek for a divorce, she applies to the 
courts of law and obtains protection and alimony.* 

* I am assured by a leading attorney in Salt Lake City that during 
the last twelve months, more than one hundred first wives have called 
upon him to enter suit for divorce and alimony. But he has discoun- 
tenanced their proposed proceedings, as far as he was concerned, as 
he regarded it as a very unpleasant business and not unattended with 
danger. Besides which, he believed that up to the present time the 
situation of affairs in Utah was not so favourable for such proceedings 
as might shortly be expected. 



174 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



All the other wives were married to the husband by 
the priesthood, and can only be released from him 
by the priesthood. 

All law contention is avoided in the Mormon 
divorce cases, and they are also unattended with 
expense. A young wife presents herself at Brigham's 
office and complains of her husband. Brigham 
listens. If he has any personal interest in the absent 
husband, he will probably defer his decision, and 
afford him an opportunity of being heard in his own 
defence. Should it be otherwise, and Brigham would 
rather humble the husband if he can, he readily ac- 
cepts the woman's statement. The clerk is instruct- 
ed to " make out the papers." The discontented wife 
signs them, and her marriage is dissolved. The hus- 
band is notified that he is " wanted at the office." 
He goes — it may be without any knowledge of the 
nature of the business — and is informed that his wife 
Ignatia had been there, and had ^elated all his 
" brutality" to her, and his " shocking neglect," his 
greater preference for some other wife, or that he had 
stayed two days more in every week with his favourite 
■ — Susannah, than he had with her or with Mary Jane, 
and she " was not going to stand it." The husband 
may supplicate, promise better behaviour, or suggest a 
more just disposition of his hours and affection, and 
then the signing of the papers is deferred. Other 
husbands take dissatisfied wives at their word, thank- 
ful for the opportunity of sundering ties that were 
irksome to both. He watches the occasion of 
Brigham's absence from the office, goes round in a 
great hurry, sees the clerk, asks for the papers and 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



175 



signs them. He then hands ten dollars to the clerk, 
and beats a retreat from the office without giving any 
opportunity for repentance, and rejoices in the glory 
of being once more a free man — "a one-wifed 
bachelor !" 

This divorce business has about as many ludicrous 
phases as the marriage is stamped with cruel severity. 
In the marriage ceremony, the husband and wife are 
"sealed up unto eternal life." Nothing but adultery 
can unloose those bands. Yet it frequently occurs 
that a dissatisfied wife "gets a bill" of divorce and 
marries again another man to whom she is " sealed 
up" also to " eternal life ;" and cases are known of 
women being " sealed up" to " eternal life" to three 
and four different husbands. And after all this pro- 
fessedly sacred service has been performed, Brigham 
in some of his comical humours will tell the people 
in the Tabernacle that " the divorce is not worth the 
paper it is written upon ; but the people insist upon 
getting them, and the ten dollars is pin-money for my 
wives." What a picture to contemplate ! What re- 
flections arise upon purity ! He first teaches Po- 
lygamy as the marital relations of the purest and 
the highest in the heavens : he introduces it with 
the grandest promises : it becomes intolerable, and 
for peace' sake he gives divorces and then gets into 
confusion. The truth is that Brigham now begins 
to realize that he has more on his hands than he 
knows what to do with. 

Women are to be met with in Utah with even a 
much larger married experience than many of the 
men. I know a good-natured soul who has had four 



176 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



husbands. I first knew her at my house as a laun- 
dress. Ever since that, whenever I chance to meet 
her, I expect to hear something interesting. She 
now lives in the country, and only comes into the 
city about once a year. The last time I saw her she 
came up smiling good-naturedly, and said — " What 
do you think, Mrs. Stenhouse? I have just seen two 
of my old husbands ! One I knew was here, but I 
did not expect to see the other." She seemed to 
look upon this rencontre as a cheerful and amusing 
incident, and from her manner while speaking of them, 
I should think that she was on very excellent terms 
with both. Their divorce had caused no bitterness. 

When any woman has not been seen for some 
length of time, a little caution is necessary in ad- 
dressing her by name. She may have been Mrs. 
Smith when you last spoke to her : have become Mrs. 
Jones, or Robinson, and be now Mrs. Smith again ! 
I have generally waited to hear something which 
might indicate if any change had taken place before 
I would venture to address her by the name which 
she had borne when I last saw her. / It is not un- 
common in Utah for a wife to leave her husband, 
marry again, be divorced, and go back to her first 
husband. \ 

This changing round from one husband to another 
is, however, not altogether the result of personal 
caprice alone, and the indelicacy of such " trading " 
of husbands and wives cannot be charged entirely to 
the fickleness of the persons interested. Faith, as 
taught by the priesthood, has been a disturbing 
element in married life. 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 1 77 

Though the word " affinity" is not used by the 
Mormons, its meaning has, in fact, been often illus- 
trated among them. Wives in Utah, as well as else- 
where, have passed from one husband to another ; 
but the worst of the matter is, that in Utah a divine 
revelation is claimed for these proceedings. In con- 
nection with the " affinity " doctrine elsewhere, the 
parties satisfy themselves and act on their own re- 
sponsibility. If they blunder, and are punished for 
their mistake, they have only themselves to blame ; 
but when "revelation" is claimed as authority for 
what is done, one of the parties is generally the inno- 
cent victim of the other. 

To avoid wounding the feelings of an innocent and 
excellent lady, I withhold names ; but I may say that 
I know of a lady in Salt Lake City who was many 
years ago married to a man of about her own age. 
She is a very handsome woman. A certain man 
officiating at the marriage ceremony in the " Endow- 
ment House," is said to have remarked to some 
members of his family that he had that day married 
to another man a sister who ought to have been his 
own wife. 

As every word falling from his lips is looked upon 
as a divine " revelation," his wives very naturally re- 
garded what he now said in that light. His state- 
ment was not long in finding its way to the newly 
married wife. She, with the usual faith and confi- 
dence of the Saints in all that is uttered by him % 
believed what she heard, and looked upon her marriage 
with the young man as a mistake which would have 
to be set right some day, and so became very un- 



I 



i 7 8 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



happy. After having borne two children to her hus- 
band, and only a few months before the birth of her 
third child, she became the wife of the "great" man ! 

Terrible as the trial must have been to her young 
husband, he was forced to accept the situation, and 
remained in fellowship with the church for several 
years afterwards. He is now amongst the Liberals 
of Utah. The lady is still young and very good 
looking, but she is made to realize most keenly that 
she is only one of a number of wives ; while her 
" priestly" husband is spending his leisure hours with 
a more recent favourite. 

But this is by no means a solitary instance of the 
kind. One of the " Twelve Apostles" met with his 
death from the hands of a husband who considered 
himself outraged in his wife leaving him, adopting the 
new faith, and marrying the apostle ; and although 
the Mormons very much regretted his death, the 
most intelligent and thinking portion of them felt 
that in the situation of the husband they might have 
done the same thing. No " Gentile" could interfere 
with a Mormon wife in Utah to the same extent 
without being visited by " judgment." 

Many instances could be given of ladies leaving 
their husbands under the impression that they, 
though good men, were not as able to " exalt " them 
as other men in the priesthood. Two ladies in Salt 
Lake, whom I know and have already alluded to, 
while they were in Nauvoo became the sealed wives 
of Joseph Smith and yet still maintained their rela- 
tionship to their own husbands. This is very revolt- 
ing, and exhibits to what extremes faith will sometimes 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 1 79 

conduct people. These ladies to-day think that that 
which the world would universally condemn was an 
act of the noblest heroism. Their names, if printed 
here, would perfectly astonish many who personally 
know and respect them. I do not doubt for a mo- 
ment that they conscientiously thought that they 
were worthy of the highest honor for believing the 
" revelation" of " the Lord/' through " His servant/' 
and accepting the position of handmaids to " the 
Anointed." 

Enough has been written already to set the most 
devoted Saint thinking over the crooked paths of 
Polygamy. I have not attempted to enter into any 
argument hitherto, but I think I may venture to con- 
clude this chapter with a word to Brother Hyde about 
his statement justifying the practice. 

" Brother " Orson puts forth perhaps the best argu- 
ment that has ever been given in its favour. But let 
us see what this argument is. He says : 

" Some man will perhaps marry a wife of his youth. 
She dies. He loved her as he loves himself, and her 
memory ever lingers about his heart. He marries 
another, and she dies, and he loved her equally as 
well. He marries a third, and so on, and he loved 
them all. By-and-by he dies, and he dies with de- 
voted affection and love to them all. Now, in the 
resurrection, which of these wives shall he claim ? 
There is no difference in his love to any of them ; 
and they have all, perhaps, borne children to him. 
He loves the children of one mother as well as the 
children of another. What say you ? Which shall 
he have in the resurrection ? Why, let him have 



l80 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



the whole of them ; to whom are they more nearly 
allied ? 

" There is a case opposite to this, where a woman 
married a husband, and he died, and so on, until she 
had been married to seven husbands ; and then she 
also died. The question was asked the Saviour — 
* Whose wife will she be in the resurrection, for they 
all had her V A curious answer was returned — ' In 
the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in 
marriage ; but are as the angels of God in heaven/ " 

Brother Hyde appears willing that the woman with 
her seven husbands should be " as the angels" — what- 
ever that condition may be ; but he would rather 
himself decide the fate of his own sex, and he very 
generously says of the man with seven wives, " Let 
him have them all ; to whom are they i nearer allied ?" 
Be just, Brother Hyde, and allow to the poor woman 
who has had seven husbands the whole of them : who 
deserves them better ? She might similarly have 
loved all her husbands ; and if the argument is good 
for the man, it is good for the woman. Why should 
she not be permitted to have them all in the other 
world, instead of being compelled to become "an 
angel"? 

The question arises in my mind — If all these seven 
brethren are faithful members of the church, and if 
their only chance of glory and " exaltation in heaven" 
consists in the number of wives and children which 
each has, why should the unfortunate six be sentenced 
to be kept out in the cold — wifeless, and with only a 
faint taste of the bliss of Paradise ? Why, also, should 
only one be favoured ? And, then, which ought to be 
that one I 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. l8l 



It is, I think, very evident that Brother Hyde ex- 
pressed only the desires of his poor, weak, erring 
nature when he said — " Let him have them all, to be 
sure P 5 

Brother Hyde has provoked statistics. The women 
of Utah who have listened to so many sermons in the 
Tabernacle, about the women so far outnumbering 
the men in the world, and hence the necessity of 
Polygamy, so that every woman should have a hus- 
band, will be interested in the perusal of the follow- 
ing table, which certainly does not prove the as- 
sertion. 

TABLE 

OF MALE AND FEMALE POPULATION OF THE TERRITORY OF UTAH IN 187a 





Counties. 


Males. 


Females. 


Total. 


I 


Beaver 


IOIO 


997 


2007 


2 


Box Elder 


2842 


2013 


4855 


3 




4068 


4161 


8229 


4 




2232 


2227 


4459 


i 




1123 


1154 


2277 






1027 


1007 


2034 


7 


Kane 


776 


737 


1513 


8 


Millard 


1429 


1324 


2753 


9 




995 


977 


1972 


10 


Piute 


69 


13 


82 


11 


Rich 


1020 


935 


1955 


12 




250 


200 


450 


13 




9019 


93i8 


18,337 


14 


San Pete 


3274 


3512 


6786 






19 




19 


\l 


Summit 


1349 


1163 


2512 


17 




1159 


1018 


2177 


18 


Utah 


6174 


6029 


12,203 


19 




642 


602 


1244 


20 




1532 


1532 


3064 


21 




4112 


3746 


7858 




Total - 


44,121 


42,665 


$6,786 



In the above table, for which I am indebted to the Census Bureau at 
Washington, the reader will perceive that in polygamous Utah there 
axe two thousand and fifty-six more males than females ! 



CHAPTER XIX. 

Domestic Life in Polygamy — Management of Families — Separate 
Homes — Half a dozen Wives under one Roof — Internal Arrange- 
ments—The " Odd Day" for the first Wife—" Generosity"— How 
six Wives are visited — The Misery of poor Polygamists — The great- 
er Misery in a wealthy House — " The Kingdom" — The Tale of the 
Doors and Windows — Fruitless good Intentions — Illustrative In- 
stance of the Effects of Polygamy and Monogamy — An economical 
Wife, and her Object — Wives in various Places — Utilizing the Ser- 
vices of Wives — A Husband's Difficulties — Brigham Young — His 
"Homes" — Mrs. Young: Nineteen of her! — Wives and 
"proxy" Wives— The Bee-Hive House — The Lion House — Six 
other Houses — Domestic Relations — Brigham's Favourite — The 
Prophet in the Bail-Room — His Proscenium Box at the Theatre — 
Delusion of Utah Women — Can this be from God ? 

In every conversation upon Polygamy in Utah, the 
first question usually asked is, " How are the women 
managed ? do they all live together — or how ?" 

There is no fixed principle regulating men in the 
management of their families. Every one is at liber- 
ty to do as he thinks best ; and, with the greatest 
diversity of judgment and circumstances, there are 
scarcely two families alike. Where the husband is 
wealthy, separate homes are generally provided for 
the wives. Still, some wealthy men have all their 
families together under the same roof. When this is 
the case, if the wives number half a dozen or more, 
the " living" arrangements are ordered with a view to 
economy. If there is harmony in the household, 
some deference may be paid to the first wife, and 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 1 83 

perhaps she may be excused from part of the do- 
mestic duties ; but as a general thing, all the wives 
take week and week about in the management of the 
house. The work of the kitchen, the laundry, etc., is 
done by hired " help/' 

In such a house there is a common dining-room, 
large enough to seat the wives and the eldest and 
youngest children. Of course the table is often not 
large enough for all the children, and then there is a 
second table for the others. In such an establish- 
ment privacy is unknown. Each lady, however, has 
her own apartment. 

In a very large house, with many wives, there is 
greater safety and peace for the husband than in a 
small house, with only two wives. When there are 
only two apartments, the husband is supposed to be 
in the one or in the other ; and if there is any dispo-, 
sition to be bitter, the occupied room at once fur- 
nishes the object for the attack from the vacant room. 
In a large house, there are some advantages. The 
whereabouts of the husband is not so easily discover- 
ed, and the unhappy or jealous wife is at a loss to 
know on whom she should vent her ire. On this 
account, even men of small means prefer to have 
three wives instead of two, as the jealousy is then 
divided, and the wives do not well know which of the 
two others is her greatest enemy. 

The husband who provides separate homes for his 
wives has to divide his time between them. Some 
men go from house to house, spending a day with 
one wife and a day with another, and so on until he 
has visited them all. Then he begins again where 



1 84 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 

he first set out, and travels over the same road as 
before. 

Where the wives are not more than three in num- 
ber, each wife generally has the society of her lord 
for two days in each week ; and when the husband 
desires to show any preference to his first wife, the 
odd day in the seven is accorded to her, and this 
is rarely objected to ; but not infrequently the ex- 
tra day falls to the lot of the youngest and last wife 
— this very pious and impartial man justifying his 
preference by a kindly word to his wives about their 
all having had " their day," and that it was nothing 
but right that the young bride should have "her day" 
also. / To such a delicate appeal to their generosity, 
and to such an exhibition of his manifest disinterest- 
edness, and desire to be just, these loving wives 
could of course make but little objection ! 

A house with two wings is very popular among 
the men with two wives. The centre door opens 
into the parlour, which serves for the reception of 
visitors to both families. Two doors are sure to be 
seen— -one to the right, another to the left, conduct- 
ing to the family apartments of each wife. The hus- 
band spends one week on one side of the house, and 
the following week he goes to the other side of the 
house ; and in the mean time he keeps trotting from 
one side to the other every day, to preserve peace in 
his family. 

I have in my mind a prominent man in Salt Lake 
City, who is the husband of half a dozen wives ; he 
divides his time after this fashion: The first week, 
he stays with the first wife ; the next week he is with 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 1 85 

the second ; then he goes back again to the first wife 
for another week. He then passes the fourth week 
with the third wife, and back he goes again to the 
first wife, and so on forward and backward, until he 
has blessed them all with his presence. By this 
arrangement, the first wife has the largest share of 
her husband's society. The truth, however, requires 
that I should state that the last wife in this particu- 
lar family was a young and very good-looking girl, 
and she resided with the first wife. Thus while the 
husband was showing his devotion to his first wife, 
he was rewarded by the society of his younger one. 
The other wives only got a week of his society in 
about every eleven weeks ; they have thus each about 
five weeks of his society in every year. 

When abundant wealth can supply all the wants 
of numerous wives and children, and furnish every 
accommodation that a growing family demands, much 
of the jealousy and ill-feeling so common to Polyga- 
my can in some degree be avoided. But when poor 
men have families growing up in some old, dilapidated 
house, and huddled together, it is a very painful ex- 
perience. Polygamy with riches is bad enough ; 
but Polygamy with poverty is terrible. 

It is said that many men in Utah have entered 
into polygamic life with two wives under one roof, 
and with but a very doubtful partition in the bed- 
room. But even for this those poor people were 
hardly to be blamed. " Build up the kingdom ! build 
up the kingdom !" has been drummed into their 
ears till all good sense and propriety were driven out 
of their heads. It is very common, however, to see 



1 86 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



families of two or three wives living together in one 
small house — the women with separate bed-rooms, 
but with only one kitchen to accommodate them all, 
and with one room that serves as dining-room and 
parlour — all for " the Kingdom's " sake.* 

A row of doors and windows may be seen in every 
settlement in Utah, and even still in Salt Lake City 
they may be noticed. To each door and window 
there was a wife, a fire-place, a bedstead, three chairs, 
and a table./ When the family of either wife increased 
and required more room, a shed would be added be- 
hind. This was " celestial" marriage in Utah. Yet 
I have known more misery to exist in a handsome 
residence, and more ill-feeling between two wives 
rolling in abundance there, than probably was ever 
felt in some of those mud-roofed cottages of doors 
and windows where half a dozen wives resided. 

Poverty is ill to bear in Polygamy. It is a terrible 
physical affliction, and develops the lowest feelings 
in both women and children, who are ever afraid that 
other wives and their children are getting more than 

* I have frequently mentioned in this work the word "Kingdom." 
To my "Gentile" readers, this expression will probably not be very 
clear, and it is only right that I should give a word of explanation. 
The Mormon doctrine is, that in the other world, a man's children 
and descendants will form his "Kingdom." Hence it is that they 
are anxious to have numerous families, as the more children a man 
has, the greater will be his power and glory hereafter, as their patri- 
arch and monarch. A knowledge of this doctrine will give the reader 
a better insight into much that has been written, and will explain 
why it is that Polygamy has taken such hold upon the minds of the 
Mormon people, and how natural it is that the idea of a future " king- 
dom," if once believed, should enter so deeply into their thoughts 
and language, and so largely influence the practice of their lives. 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 1 87 

their share of bread, potatoes, and molasses — the 
staples of such a home — but in the houses of the 
rich, with every thing in abundance at hand, it is 
there that the green-eyed monster — jealousy, has the 
fullest rein. The mind, thus unoccupied with the 
cares of providing for a home, is the more at liberty to 
count the hours of a husband's absence, to brood over 
the remembrance of the last kind look which he gave 
to the other, or to note the more delicate shade of the 
last silk dress, or the richer shawl, which she did not 
get. I have seen such women ; I have heard them 
confidentially tell their woes ; and I have watched 
them pine away to that physical weakness which 
makes life a burden. 

Possibly the other lady was innocent of ever doing 
any thing intentionally wrong, and quite as likely, too, 
the lord of the mansion was as careful as man could 
be to guard his tongue, to control his eyes, and to 
measure all his acts, and knew not why his wife 
should pine and always have her headaches and re- 
tire to her own apartment. With, or without cause, 
the sensitive woman is afflicted, and not infrequently 
she it is who suffers most who has the most attention. 
One kind, insinuating glance of the husband to the 
other wife obliterates from the afflicted one's memory 
the ten times greater acts of kindness that he has 
shown to her. All is forgotten in an instant ; the 
waters of Lethe pass over the tablets of her memory, 
and the recollections of the pleasantest hours of her 
life are washed away for ever. 

The effects of Polygamy are singularly illustrated 
in the appearance and condition of two sisters (twins) 



1 88 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 

who reside in Salt Lake City. The contrast between 
the two ladies is very striking, although in many re- 
spects they resemble each other so strongly that it is 
almost impossible even for their most intimate friends 
to distinguish the one from the other when apart. 
Sometimes even their husbands have ludicrously 
mistaken them. One of these ladies is the wife of a 
liberal, kind-hearted man, but he is a Polygamist, and 
has three other wives besides herself. The other 
sister is the wife of a monogamist ; and, of course, -is 
the sole mistress of his heart's affections. 

When, however, the sisters are together, a marked 
dissimilarity can be observed between them. The 
wife of the Polygamist — good-hearted man, as he is 
— has a touching look of care and sorrow constantly 
dwelling upon her features, for she has but a share 
in her husband's love. The wife of the mono- 
gamist has no such sad expression on her face ; for 
small as her husband's heart may be, she knows that 
she alone rules therein — its sole queen and mistress. 

I knew two wives — very pleasant ladies and natu- 
rally kind-hearted — who tried the Polygamic life in 
its varied phases. They were unhappy together and 
they separated, and tried the experiment of living in 
different parts of the city. That was, however, still 
worse than before. When the ladies were both living 
together, either lady could at once see whether her 
husband's hat and overcoat were in the hall ; but when 
he had a second home, he was gone entirely, and no 
trace of him was left behind. When both were in 
one house, prudence might suggest to the husband 
the number of the absent hours ; but out of the 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 1 89 

house, he might find a thousand business excuses for 
a prolonged absence ; none of which the suffering 
one would believe implicitly. Besides, when all 
together, in the same house, one table served for both 
wives, and the husband could not, of course, " get a 
better dinner in one house than in the other." 

Women naturally seek the happiness of their hus- 
band, even though they may be bitter against him 
and Polygamy. They try to preserve his favour and 
make their homes as attractive as possible, so that he 
may always be pleased when he comes to see them. 
Out of their frequently poor allowances for the main- 
tenance of their families, and what their own labour 
may add thereto, some women try to be exceedingly 
economical while they are living by themselves, so 
that when it comes to "their turn" to receive the hus- 
band, he may be well entertained. I have one lady 
in view who earned her husband's flattering opinion 
for economy in this way, and by some unlooked for 
change in his family, this good opinion has been of 
some service to her. 

That is the course adopted by a woman of years 
and experience. Young and thoughtless wives some- 
times try the opposite experiment, and when their 
husbands come to see them they are always poor, 
suffering — always needy ; they never have enough of 
any thing. The effort at creating sympathy is not 
half as successful as the pleasant home and smiling 
welcome of more experienced ladies. Many a woman 
has missed her opportunity from want of a proper 
knowledge of human nature and good cookery. 

Some of the leading men have wives in different 



190 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 

parts of the Territory ; which is, of course, very con- 
venient when travelling. It is quite common to find 
a man with one family in the city and another a few 
miles in the country. The city residence is necessary 
in the pursuit of business, while the country wife 
overlooks the farm and dairy. 

Many of the patriarchs in the country are very 
judicious in their selection of wives — that is, if they 
have comfortable homes. I remember many years 
ago reading a letter in a newspaper from a " brother" 
in the south of Utah. He had one who was a good 
housewife, another who was a good weaver, another 
was a good seamstress ; and all his ambition then 
was to find another wife who could teach the children. 

Some men are not quite so fortunate in their patri- 
archal relations. They do not seem to know how to 
dispose of themselves and keep peace in their fami- 
lies. In the language of the teachers, these are 
" weak men, who fall in love with one wife, and are 
not smart enough to conceal it from the others." 
Perhaps something occurs in course of time to break 
in upon his sweet communion with the favourite, and 
he leaves her and goes to another wife. Then the 
unfortunate patriarch has the favourite's indignation 
added to the complaints of the other wives, and his 
latter condition is worst of all. No amount of " teach- 
ing" in the world would make such a family happy. 
Women are argus-eyed, and nothing can escape their 
notice. 

No man with weaknesses should ever think of Po- 
lygamy. 

Of the privacy of Brigham Young as a man, I shall 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. I9I 

not write — no, not a word. His wives and children 
are as sacred to me as I would desire my own family 
to be with the public. But as the head of a system, I 
have no scruples to speak of him, and of the example 
of "celestial marriage" which he sets before the 
world. He cannot consistently object, as he has re- 
peatedly told the people to follow him as he follows 
# Christ ; and as he permits no one to question him, 
the natural conclusion is that his family is the pattern , 
of the patriarchal order. 

Very extravagant statements have been published 
of the number of Brigham Young's wives and chil- 
dren. How many he has had from the time he 
courted Miss Martha Brotherton until now, it would 
be difficult to estimate. Some of his wives are dead ; 
others have left him, and many probably have been 
sealed to him who strayed away like those of Brother 
Heber, and he knew not whither they went. 

Of Brigham's present family I am personally ac- 
quainted with nineteen of his wives. Before he was 
a Mormon, he had a wife and family, but of that lady 
I know nothing. Two of her daughters are in Utah. 

His Mormon family begins with his first, legal, 
wife, who is still living — Mrs. Mary Ann Angel 
Young. She is probably about his own age, but is 
physically less preserved, and looks much older. She 
is a most excellent and amiable lady, and bears traces 
of having had her full share of earthly troubles. She 
is the mother of his three prominent sons, Joseph 
A. ; Brigham, Jr. ; John W., and two daughters — 
Alice and Luna. Each of the sons has three wives. 
The first daughter is the third of four wives in a 



192 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



polygamic household. The other daughter is the 
first wife of a young man, and has for a companion 
wife her fathers daughter by another mother. The 
eldest daughter, Alice, has also her half-sister as an 
associate wife in her husband's household. 

The legal wife of Brigham is : 
I. Mrs. Mary Ann Angel 



II. 
III. 
IV. 
V. 
VI. 
VII. 
VIII. 
IX. 
X. 
XI. 
XII. 
XIII. 
XIV. 
XV. 



His Polygamic Wives are : 

Mrs. Clara Decker, \ (sisters)> 
Mrs. Lucy Decker, > 

Mrs. Emeline Free 

Mrs. Harriet Cook 

Mrs. Twiss 

Mrs. Eliza Burgess 

Mrs. Susan Snively 

Mrs. Lucy Bigeiow 

Mrs. Harriet Barney Seagers . . 

Mrs. Martha Bowker 

Mrs. Margaret Pierce 

Mrs. Amelia Folsom 

Mrs. Mary Van Cott Cobb 

Mrs. Eliza Ann Jay Webb 



> Young. 



His " Proxy" Wives are : 

XVI. Mrs. Emily Partridge 

XVII. Mrs. Zina D. Huntington Jacobs 

XVIII. Miss Eliza R. Snow 

[These were formerly " sealed " to Joseph 
Smith, and are now " Proxy" wives to 
Brigham.] 

Also — 



XIX. 



Mrs. Augusta Cobb. 



[who was " sealed " to Joseph Smith since 
his death.] 

Besides these, there may very likely be other ladies 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 1 93 



"sealed" to Brigham, but I myself know personally 
no more than the above named. 

Brigham's first home in Utah was in a little cot- 
tage called " The White House," which every visitor 
to Salt Lake will notice on the hill-side, north of 
" The Eagle Gate." In that house Mrs. Young, the 
first, is domiciled. She is much loved by her chil- 
dren, and with their attention and affection, this good 
old lady probably long ago became indifferent to the 
additions that have been made to her husband's do- 
minions. She is much beloved by the people for her 
own worth. 

In the " Bee-Hive House," the official residence of 
Governor Young, adjoining his office on the east, 
there is but one lady occupant — Mrs. Lucy Decker 
Young. There is a privacy about this dwelling that 
no one invades. It is here that the Prophet has his 
own private bed-room, and at this house he breakfasts 
— when he has been at home over night. 

In the " Lion House" — a very long, narrow build- 
ing on the west of the business office — the larger num- 
ber of his wives reside. The basement floor is used 
for kitchen, dining-room, pantry, and a general re- 
ceptacle for the odds and ends of a large family. The 
first floor has a passage up the centre, where proba- 
bly half a dozen of the wives with small families have 
their rooms on the right-hand side. | On the left, at 
the entrance, is the parlour, and the other rooms on 
that side are occupied by mothers with larger fami- 
lies, and ladies who have a little more than ordinary 
attention. The upper floor is divided into twenty 
square bed-rooms. 



194 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



There is no extravagance in the furniture of the 
homes of these wives, but they are comfortable and 
kept neat and clean. 

It is in this " Lion House" where he usually dines 
at three p.m. Mrs. Twiss Young is housekeeper, 
and excellently fitted for the duties of that position. 
At three punctually the bell rings, and the mothers, 
with their children, move down to the dining-room, 
and all are seated at a very long table, that has had 
to be lengthened by turning round at the end of the 
room. Each mother has her children around her. 
Brigham sits at the head of the table, with his fa- 
vourite — when in the house — vis-a-vis, or on his left, 
and any visitor sits on his right hand. The repast is 
frugal, but ample. Brigham is a sober and exceed- 
ingly economical man. This is the first time he sees 
his family. 

In the evening, at seven o'clock, the bell again 
rings, and the mothers and the children fill the sides 
and ends of the parlour. When they are all seated, 
the Patriarch enters, takes his seat by the parlour 
table, and chats quietly with those who may go in 
with him to prayers. When all the members of the 
family are assembled, the door is closed ; they kneel, 
and he prays for all — for Zion, and for the " King- 
dom." That is the last they see of him, unless they 
seek him privately. 

Outside of the wall that surrounds these houses he 
has wives occupying six other houses. One other 
wife is far down South, another is at the farm, and 
one " proxy" wife lives with her son-in-law. 

The wives of Brigham have all good homes, have 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. I95 

the necessaries of life, and are comfortably, respect- 
ably, and neatly dressed. With the exception of the 
one who is called his "favourite," and her growing 
rival, there is no indication of extravagance among 
them. 

Up to an addition of late years, the community 
heard nothing of his family but what was pleasant 
and creditable to them. His wives are kind and 
faithful mothers, seeking to live the religion they 
have been taught, and ambitious to increase the 
glory of their " lord." They are women who would 
be regarded with respect in the most moral commu- 
nity of any country ; and are as far from resembling 
the Sultanas of an Eastern harem as one thing can 
be different from another. Most of them are women 
of devout faith. I know them all personally — some 
of them intimately; and, while I have heard from 
some, with heavy hearts, of their difficulties in bear- 
ing " the cross" which all Mormon women have to 
carry, they have tried, I know, to be submissive, and 
I think it is due to them that I should make the pre- 
sent recognition of their goodness of disposition and 
purity of soul. 

With his family he is said to be kind ; but it is 
supposed to be more the awe which his position as 
Prophet inspires, than the love which they bear him 
as a man, which renders him successful in managing 
them. At the same time, that sweet familiarity 
is destroyed which should exist between husband 
and wife, father and children. He aims to be looked 
upon more as a ruler than as the head of a family. 

With such a number of wives, he cannot possibly 



I96 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



wait upon them in visiting, frequenting the ball-room, 
or places of public entertainment. With the excep- 
tion of his reigning favourite, whoever She may hap- 
pen for the time to be, no one expects his attentions. 
At the theatre, which is his own, a full number of 
seats are reserved, and his wives attend when they 
please or they remain at home. They sit in the body 
of the parquette, among the rest of the people ; but 
one of the two proscenium boxes is reserved for him, 
and beside him is a chair for the favourite Amelia. 

When he goes to the ball-room, the same special 
attention is manifest. He dances first with the fa- 
vourite, and, if half a dozen more of his wives have 
accompanied them, he will dance with each of them 
once in the course of the evening ; but with the fa- 
vourite he dances as frequently as any youth in the 
ball-room with his first maiden love. The Apostles 
and leading men of the community, who dance atten- 
dance upon him and desire his favour, are sure to 
seek the pleasure of her hand and place her in the 
same cotillion with Brigham, who is thus able all the 
evening to enjoy her company. 

This favouritism is ill-looked upon by the Saints, 
and, in their estimation, savours more of Turkey than 
of the " Celestial Kingdom." Were there greater 
devotion, or greater virtue in her, the people might 
find some argument for his defence ; but the cir- 
cumstance, whenever alluded to in society, is gene- 
rally answered with a smile or a shrug of the shoul- 
ders. 

Some Apostles look with pain upon this boyishness 
of the Prophet, and deplore it. Most of them are 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. I97 



attached to their first wives, and have shown to them 
consideration and attention which has not always 
pleased Brigham. I have heard more than one of 
them express the wish that Brother Brigham's devo- 
tion to the fair sex had more direction toward his 
first wife. It is but just to the reigning favourite to 
state that she has not been wanting in kindness and 
respect to Mrs. Young. 

Brigham has had his favourites before ; and, if he 
were to live many years longer, with the privilege 
hitherto enjoyed by him of doing just what he pleased, 
he doubtless would lose his fancy for his present toy 
and seek another. One of his recent wives is a very 
handsome lady, and his attentions in that direction 
are already very marked. 

As I write, the thought comes over me, — What in- 
fatuated beings the women of Utah have been, with 
all these evidences of human weakness and passion 
exhibited by the " Priesthood " continually before 
their eyes, that they should ever believe that there is 
even a shadow of divinity in Polygamy ! How could 
they imagine for an instant that it was possible for 
such a doctrine to emanate from God, or from that 
Adorable Being who looked upon woman with the 
sweetest tenderness that humanity could express ! 
What a terrible infatuation ! It is fearful to con- 
template ! 



CHAPTER XX. 



Gentiles in Utah — Mormon Women not allowed to mingle with 
them — Restrictions and Prejudices — Women and Men kept apart 
in the Tabernacle and the Theatre— Keeping a Gentile Boarding- 
House — Times changed — Mormon Girls marrying Gentile Hus- 
bands — Why they prefer the Gentiles — Reasons of Jealousy — The 
Looks of Mormon Women — False Notions — The Railway working 
Changes — An Appeal to Congress-— The wisest Course to be 
adopted — To the Women of Utah. 

For many years there were very few Gentiles in 
Utah. Most of these were merchants and their 
clerks, and teamsters. There were also two or three 
Federal officials. Although they were but few, their 
influence was always dreaded by the Mormon lea- 
ders ; and the Tabernacle and Meeting-Houses re- 
sounded with something disparaging to the Gentiles. 
Some of them doubtless commanded very little re- 
spect. But it mattered not how much others might 
be respected elsewhere, how pure and blameless 
their lives, it was enough that they were Gentiles, 
and a worse thing still to be a gentlemanly or edu- 
cated Gentile. The pleasant manners of a cultivated 
life were set down as the wiles of the Evil One to 
seduce the simple and trusting maidens of the flock, 
and rendered the gentleman an object of suspicion 
and distrust. The rough and uncultivated could be 
easily guarded against and easily exposed. 

No young woman could possibly accept any atten- 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 1 99 

tions from a Gentile without being disgraced — it was 
an unpardonable sin, and she was certain to be de- 
nounced and abused in the Ward meetings. It was 
a risk of reputation for any woman to be seen talking 
to a Gentile. It mattered not where they might 
have met before— at the store, or at a friend's house, 
or even before they had gone to Utah — to recognize 
a Gentile in the street was to avow an intimacy 
which was associated with a suspicion of the vilest 
conduct. For any family to entertain gentlemen 
who brought letters of introduction from friends 
abroad was not impossible, it is true; but the less 
they had of this kind of thing the better. If these 
gentlemen were simply passing through Salt Lake 
City, an invitation to the theatre might be accepted 
by any member of the family ; but they would be 
very thankful when it was over, knowing well that 
all eyes were upon them. But if this friend hap- 
pened to prolong his visit, and should chance to give 
a second invitation for the theatre or a carriage-drive, 
some falsehood had to be conjured up as an excuse 
for declining. 

Some toleration was extended in the case of my 
husband, as he was an editor, and necessarily had 
many visitors whom he took pleasure in entertain- 
ing ; but it was considered by many pious friends 
that we had more of that kind of association than 
was beneficial. At the present time, I have little 
doubt that our leaving the church is attributed to 
this cause. 

I would not have permitted my daughters, had 
they had such a desire, to have accepted any atten- 



200 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



tions from a Gentile. Not that I believed it was 
wrong — I knew better — but I was afraid of the bit- 
ter tongue of scandal, which I knew was ready to 
wag. A very sweet little girl who lived near us, and 
who had associated with my daughter while growing 
up, became acquainted with Gentile ladies and visit- 
ed them at home. There, naturally, she became ac- 
quainted with Gentile gentlemen ; and as she was 
very good-looking she received attentions which were 
to her agreeable, particularly in her lonely situation. 
Of course, the acquaintance with my daughter had 
to be stopped, although I believed this little girl pure 
and spotless. The scandal against her as she grew 
up became of the very vilest character, and her of- 
fence was simply associating with the Gentiles. Had 
her faith in the Mormon Church been unshaken, she 
would certainly not have formed such acquaintances ; 
but the poor girl was disgusted with the wretched 
phases of Polygamy constantly before her eyes — her 
mother could have told an awful tale of sorrow. 

Another very beautiful young Mormon lady, the 
daughter of a gentleman who, when living, was one 
of the highest dignitaries of the church, was once 
chosen for her handsome appearance to represent 
the goddess of liberty in a Fourth of July proces- 
sion. When Brigham heard it, the committee were 
rebuked and the young lady insulted by their after- 
wards refusing to accept her, although she had been 
specially invited — her unfitness being that she kept 
Gentile society. 

These young ladies are now married to very re- 
spectable Gentiles. 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 201 



When the United States army went to Utah in 
1858, one half of the old Tabernacle was appropriat- 
ed to the sisters, and the other half to the brethren. 
The centre of the new Tabernacle is now devoted ex- 
clusively to the sisters — no husband or brother sits 
near them. When Brigham built the theatre it was 
also specially partitioned off. The Mormon families 
occupied the parquette, and the Gentiles had the 
first circle. Of course, the poorer classes had no 
souls to contaminate, were less cared for, and Gen- 
tiles and Mormons sat together in the second and 
third circles. 

At one time, the Saints were not permitted to 
keep Gentile boarders and retain good standing in 
the church. Some persons would persist in doing 
so ; but it was a source of great scandal, and they 
subjected themselves to attacks in the sermons. It 
was told them that Gentile society would bring a per- 
nicious influence into their families. But what a 
change has come over the affairs of Utah ! One of 
Brigham Young's own wives, the one who was once 
the reigning favourite, now keeps Gentile boarders. 
Not long ago, I made some remarks about the incon- 
sistency of this to a very good sister, who by-the- 
by was doing the same thing herself, and was also 
one of the persons most opposed to our receiving 
Gentile company. She replied that the times had 
changed, and that Brigham Young could not be re- 
sponsible for what his wives did ; they would do as 
they pleased. This excuse was worse than none ; 
for every one in Salt Lake City knows that none of 
Brigham Young's wives would do any such thing 



202 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 

without his permission. The wife alluded to is as 
obedient as any he has got, and a very excellent lady 
with a large family. It enables her probably with her 
numerous children to procure many things which they 
might otherwise have to dispense with, and as long 
as "there is money in it," and his treasury is saved, 
Brigham will " wink at it," as he says the Lord does 
at certain things among the Saints. I could mention 
Mormons who have had a very bad name for years 
for keeping Gentile boarders. They will doubtless 
now feel better since it has become respectable and 
no longer renders them liable to " damnation." 

Notwithstanding the vigilance of the priesthood, 
several young ladies of highly respectable families 
have preferred Gentile husbands, and have left the 
Territory. These have invariably been traduced, 
and every rumour of misfortune occurring to them 
afterwards was a sweet morsel to be retailed with 
very ill-disguised gratification. For any lady to be 
spoken of with respect or as holding a good posi- 
tion after leaving the church is particularly obnoxious 
to the devoted Mormons, and any evil which may 
befall such a person is regarded as a judgment from 
heaven. Kind-hearted and fraternal as the people 
are, the rulers seem to rejoice in nothing so much 
as the misery or ill-fortune of any one who has left 
the church. 

It is not strange that spirited, proper-feeling girls 
should find the society of Gentiles acceptable. There 
need be no mystery about it. The Mormon boys and 
young men have heard so much of polygamic preach- 
ing, and have had so much of its practice before their 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



eyes, that many of them never can visit the Mormon 
girls without speaking of it. I have frequently heard 
sensitive young maidens relate that boys, when visit- 
ing, were in the habit of speaking of their " privi- 
leges telling what they would do when they got 
married ; how they thought that they would take two 
wives at once, to begin with ; how they would live 
with them afterwards, etc. 

Girls of the slightest feeling and intelligence are 
naturally shocked at this kind of talk, even though it 
has no practical effect on them. Polygamy is dis- 
agreeable enough in any form, but when made a sub- 
ject of boasting by silly boys and ignorant men, it is 
doubly offensive. In Gentile society, the girls are at 
least spared conversation on such subjects ; and, 
when they are by themselves, they do not fail to re- 
mark it to each other. In polygamic Mormonism, 
woman is a convenience ; in a proper Gentile home, 
woman is a companion, and this comparison is really 
more apprehended than any immoral conduct. A 
polygamous wife, who is one of many, who sees her 
husband only occasionally, and that generally as a 
favour, cannot well see a Gentile lady at home with- 
out comparing situations. It makes them unhappy, 
and that in a great measure is why the Mormons 
have been taught to avoid Gentile society. 

Writers upon Utah have said that the Mormon 
women were extremely homely and coarse-looking. 
This is very unjust, for, doubtless, nowhere is there 
to be found — taking them as a whole — a more fresh, 
happy, and good-looking set of girls than among the 
Mormons. It is only after marriage that many of 



< 



r 



204 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 

them lose their elasticity of step, their joyous, happy 
looks, and that animation of countenance which makes 
even a homely face look beautiful at times. On some 
of their faces may be detected a deep melancholy ; 
but, if they can be diverted from their sad thoughts 
for ever so short a time, they become animated, and 
even, it may be, beautiful. Add to this secret sorrow 
which casts a gloom upon their countenanges, the 
little opportunity which they have of cultivating their 
taste for dress, a$d it will not be wondered at if the 
Mormon womei^re not always very beautiful to a 
man who is captivated by outward appearances. 
Many of these women are taught to be satisfied with 
simple clothing, and it is constantly drummed into 
their ears that love of dress is a sin in the sight of 
God. Thus this love of the beautiful, which is a 
part of woman's nature, has to be crushed out en- 
tirely, and that, too frequently, by her own husband, 
whose example is entirely opposed to his teaching ; 
for a Mormon, if he can afford it, is very scrupulous 
in his own dress. Those very men who are most 
severely economical with their wives, and who think 
that they should be satisfied with homespun and sun- 
bonnets, are they who are the soonest captivated by 
an elegantly-dressed and fashionable woman, and 
often become perfectly infatuated about her. 

This has been a cause of much discontent among 
the women of Utah ; for they very justly feel that if 
they had as fine feathers, they might make just as 
handsome birds. 

I remember, at one of the parties, a lady was very 
nicely dressed, and one of the principal authorities of 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 



205 



the Church said to her, " Sister, don't you think that 
you spend too much time and thought on your 
dress ?" She answered, " Do you think so ? After 
all, a person looks a great deal better when they give 
a little attention to their dress. You, Brother Kim- 
ball, look a great deal better since you have worn a 
coat of broadcloth, cut in the fashionable style." He 
simply answered that it was not his wish to wear 
other clothes than what he used to, but that his wives 
insisted upon his doing so. Men in Utah are not 
guilty of following the advice of their wives, except 
it be in this one particular ; for Brigham himself has 
said that " it is a disgrace in the sight of heaven for a 
man to follow his wife." 

In Utah, as well as elsewhere, there are certainly 
women to be found who never had any good looks to 
lose, or a sensitive nature to contend with ; but it is 
not true to assert this as a characteristic of the 
whole community. The women of Utah are like 
women of their class everywhere. 

The construction of the Pacific Railroad, the dis- 
covery of the great wealth in the mountains of Utah, 
and the free expression of the sentiments of thinking 
men who have outlived and abandoned Mormonism, 
have given the death-blow to Polygamy. Were there 
none but Mormons in the Territory, it might have 
lived on so long as they were willing to remain in 
poverty ; but with prosperity, and the changed cir- 
cumstances which are ever certain to follow wealth, 
Polygamy is a doomed institution. 

Whatever, in the providence of God, may be the 



206 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 

action of Congress toward Utah, if the word of a 
feeble woman can be listened to, let me respectfully 
ask the Honourable Senators and Representatives of 
the United States that, in the abolition of Polygamy, 
if such should be the decree of the nation, let no com- 
promise be made where subtilty can bind the woman 
now living in Polygamy to remain in that condition. 
Legalize, if Congress will, the marriages that have 
been made, and legitimatize the children born in that 
wedlock, if such can be done, for the women and chil- 
dren are innocent ; but let one proviso ever remain, 
that any wife living in Polygamy, at the time of the 
passage of that Act of Congress, shall be then and 
ever afterwards free to abandon that relationship 
ivheii her conscience shall so dictate, without legal 
hindrance, and that she and her children shall be 
provided for as if she had been his first and legal 
wife whom the courts 01 law had separated "for 
cause." ; 

I have now completed my task, and am about to 
lay down my pen. I shall, I know, be condemned by 
those hymn-singing, devotional women, who, child- 
less and husbandless here, dream of the glories of the 
world to come, while they never knew the duties, the 
obligations, the sweet and hallowed sympathies of 
the world in which they live. In their eyes, I have 
doubtless committed the " unpardonable sin." I have 
written for the suffering and sorrowing women in 
Polygamy. They will understand me, and to them I 
appeal. Before the Great Tribunal I will cheerfully 
meet their verdict 



APPENDIX. 



The Revelation on Polygamy is a curious document to 
the unbeliever. To him it bears every mark of imposture. 
To the Saints it is as sacred a document as the decalogue 
given to Moses upon Mount Sinai. To a person who has 
once believed it from the teachings of the Mormon priest- 
hood, and who has lived under its threatenings, but who has 
finally outgrown the whole religion, the Revelation reads 
like a strained effort, on the part of Joseph Smith, to justify, 
under the sanction of a commandment, the leadings of his 
own passions. Whatever its origin, whoever its author, no 
document was ever given to any community that caused so 
much misery and accomplished so little good. There is no 
evidence of God in it. From beginning to end, it is man, 
and weak man only. 

In glancing over it, the intelligent reader will be rather 
astonished to find that it entirely escaped the notice of " the 
Lord," that the Patriarch Isaac was not a Polygamist. 
There are also many other statements which no one but a 
true believer would be apt to receive with implicit faith. 
But the reader will be able to form his own judgment from 
the document itself, which I shall now place before him. 

CELESTIAL MARRIAGE: 

A REVELATION ON THE PATRIARCHAL ORDER OF MATRIMONY, OR PLURALITY OF 

WIVES. 

Given to Joseph Smith, the Seer, in Nciuvoo, July iz-h, 1S43. 

i. Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you, my servant Jo- 
seph, that inasmuch as you have inquired of my hand, to 



208 



APPENDIX. 



know and understand wherein I, the Lord, justified my ser- 
vants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob ; as also Moses, David, 
and Solomon, my servants, as touching the principle and 
doctrine of their having many wives and concubines : Be- 
hold ! and lo, I am the Lord thy God, and will answer 
thee as touching this matter : Therefore, prepare thy heart 
to receive and obey the instructions which I am about to give 
unto you ; for all those who have this law revealed unto 
them must obey the same ; for behold ! I reveal unto you 
a new and an everlasting covenant, and if ye abide not that 
covenant, then are ye damned ; for no one can reject this 
covenant, and be permitted to enter into my glory ; for all 
who will have a blessing at my hands shall abide the law 
which was appointed for that blessing, and the conditions 
thereof, as was instituted from before the foundations of the 
world : and as pertaining to the new and everlasting cove- 
nant, it was instituted for the fulness of my glory ; and he 
that receiveth a fulness thereof, must and shall abide the 
law, or he shall be damned, saith the Lord God. 

2. And verily I say unto you, that the conditions of this 
law are these : All covenants, contracts, bonds, obligations, 
oaths, vows, performances, connections, associations, or ex- 
pectations, that are not made and entered into, and sealed, 
by the Holy Spirit of promise, of him who is anointed, both 
as well for time and for all eternity, and that too most holy, 
by revelation and commandment, through the medium of 
mine anointed, whom I have appointed on the earth to 
hold this power, (and I have appointed unto my servant 
Joseph to hold this power in the last days, and there is 
never but one on the earth at a time, on whom this power 
and the keys of the priesthood are conferred.) are of no 
efficacy, virtue, or force, in and after the resurrection from 
the dead : for all contracts that are not made unto this end, 
have an end when men are dead. 

3. Behold! mine house is a house of order, saith the 
Lord God, and not a house of confusion. Will I accept of 
an offering, saith the Lord, that is not made in my name ! 
Or, will I receive at your hands, that which I have not ap- 
pointed ! And will I appoint unto you, saith the Lord, ex- 
cept it be by law, even as I and my Father ordained unto 
you, before the world was 1 I am the Lord thy God, and 



APPENDIX. 



209 



I give unto you this commandment, that no man shall 
come unto the Father but by me, or by my word which is 
my law, saith the Lord ; and every thing that is in the 
world, whether it be ordained of men, by thrones, or prin- 
cipalities, or powers, or things of name, whatsoever they 
may be, that are not by me, or by my word, saith the Lord, 
shall be thrown down, and shall not remain after men are 
dead, neither in nor after the resurrection, saith the Lord 
your God : for whatsoever things remaineth are by me ; and 
whatsoever things are not by me shall be shaken and 
destroyed. 

4. Therefore, if a man marry him a wife in the world, 
and he marry her not by me, nor by my word ; and he 
covenant with her so long as he is in the world, and she 
with him, their covenant and marriage is not of force when 
they are dead, and when they are out of the world ; there- 
fore, they are not bound by any law when they are out of 
the world; therefore, when they are out of the world, they 
neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are appointed 
angels in heaven, which angels are ministering servants, to 
minister for those who are worthy of a far more, and an ex- 
ceeding, and an eternal weight of glory ; for these angels - 
did not abide my law, therefore they cannot be enlarged, 
but remain separately and singly, without exaltation, in their 
saved condition, to all eternity, and from henceforth are not 
Gods, but are angels of God for ever and ever. 

5. And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a 
wife, and make a covenant with her for time, and for all 
eternity, if that covenant is not by me, or by my word, 
which is my law, and is not sealed by the Holy Spirit of 
promise, through him whom I have anointed and appointed 
unto this power, then it is not valid, neither of force, when 
they are out of the world, because they are not joined by 
me, saith the Lord, neither by my word ; when they are 
out of the world, it cannot be received there, because the 
angels and the Gods are appointed there, by whom they 
cannot pass ; they cannot, therefore, inherit my glory, for 
my house is a house of order, saith the Lord God. 

6. And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a 
wife by my word, which is my law, and by the new and 
everlasting covenant, and it is sealed unto them by the 



2lO 



APPENDIX. 



Holy Spirit of promise, by him who is anointed, unto whom 
I have appointed this power, and the keys of this priest- 
hood, and it shall be said unto them, Ye shall come forth in 
the first resurrection ; and if it be after the first resurrection, 
in the next resurrection; and shall inherit thrones, king- 
doms, principalities, and powers, dominions, all heights and 
depths, then shall it be written in the Lamb's Book of Life, 
that he shall commit no murder whereby to shed innocent 
blood ; and if ye abide in my covenant, and commit no 
murder whereby to shed innocent blood, it shall be done 
unto them in all things whatsoever my servant hath put 
upon them, in time, and through all eternity, and shall be 
of full force when they are out of the world ; and they shall 
pass by the angels, and the Gods, which are set there, to 
their exaltation and glory in all things, as hath been sealed 
upon their heads, which glory shall be a fulness and a con- 
tinuation of the seeds for ever and ever. 

7. Then shall they be Gods, because they have no end ; 
therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting, be- 
cause they continue ; then shall they be above all, because 
all things are subject unto them. Then shall they be Gods, 
because they have all power, and the angels are subject 
unto them. 

8. Verily, verily I say unto you, except ye abide my 
law, ye cannot attain to this glory ; for strait is the gate, 
and narrow the way that leadeth unto the exaltation and 
continuation of the lives, and few there be that find it, be- 
cause ye receive me not in the world, neither do ye know 
me. But if ye receive me in the world, then shall ye know 
me, and shall receive your exaltation, that where I am, ye 
shall be also. This is eternal lives, to know the only wise 
and true God, and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent. I am 
He. Receive ye, therefore, my law. Broad is the gate, 
and wide the way that leadeth to the death; and many 
there are that go in thereat ; because they receive me not, 
neither do they abide in my law. 

9. Verily, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife 
according to my word, and they are sealed by the Holy 
Spirit of promise, according to mine appointment, and he or 
she shall commit any sin or transgression of the new and 
everlasting covenant whatever, and all manner of blasphe- 



APPENDIX. 



211 



mies, and if they commit no murder, wherein they shed in- 
nocent blood — yet they shall come forth in the first resurrec- 
tion, and enter into their exaltation, but they shall be de- 
stroyed in the flesh, and shall be delivered unto the buffet- 
ings of Satan, unto the day of redemption, saith the Lord 
God. 

10. The blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, which shall 
not be forgiven in the world, nor out of the world, is in that 
ye commit murder, wherein ye shed innocent blood, and 
assent unto my death, after ye have received my new and 
everlasting covenant, saith the Lord God ; and he that 
abideth not this law can in nowise enter into my glory, but 
shall be damned, saith the Lord. 

11. I am the Lord thy God, and will give unto thee the 
law of my Holy Priesthood, as was ordained by me, and 
my Father, before the world was. Abraham received all 
things, whatsoever he received, by revelation and command- 
ment, by my word, saith the Lord, and hath entered into 
his exaltation, and sitteth upon his throne. 

12. Abraham received promises concerning his seed, and 
of the fruit of his loins — from whose loins ye are, namely, 
my servant Joseph — which were to continue, so long as they 
were in the world ; and as touching Abraham and his seed, 
out of the world, they should continue ; both in the world 
and out of the world should they continue as innumerable 
as the stars ; or, if ye were to count the sand upon the sea- 
shore, ye could not number them. This promise is yours 
also, because ye are of Abraham, and the promise was 
made unto Abraham ; and by this law are the continuation 
of the works of my Father, wherein He glorifieth himself. 
Go ye, therefore, and do the works of Abraham ; enter ye 
into my law, and ye shall be saved. But if ye enter not 
into my law, ye can not receive the promises of my Father, 
which He made unto Abraham. 

13. God commanded Abraham, and Sarah gave Hagar 
to Abraham, to wife. And why did she do it ? Because 
this was the law, and from Hagar sprang many people. 
This, therefore, was fulfilling, among other things, the pro- 
mises. Was Abraham, therefore, under condemnation ? 
Verily, I say unto you, Nay / for I, the Lord, commanded 
it. Abraham was commanded to offer his son Isaac ; 



212 



APPENDIX. 



nevertheless, it was written, Thou shalt not kill. Abraham, 
however, did not refuse, and it was accounted unto him for 
righteousness. 

14. Abraham received concubines, and they bare him 
children, and it was accounted unto him for righteous- 
ness, because they were given unto him, and he abode 
in my law : as Isaac also, and Jacob did none other 
things than that which they were commanded; and be- 
cause they did none other things than that which they were 
commanded, they have entered into their exaltation, ac- 
cording to the promises, and sit upon thrones ; and are not 
angels, but are Gods. David also received many wives 
and concubines, as also Solomon, and Moses my servant; 
as also many others of my servants, from the beginning of 
creation until this time ; and in nothing did they sin, save 
in those things which they received not of me. 

15. David's wives and concubines were given unto him, 
of me, by the hand of Nathan, my servant, and others of 
the prophets who had the keys of this power ; and in none 
of these things did he sin against me, save in the case of 
Uriah and his wife ; and therefore, he hath fallen from his 
exaltation, and received his portion ; and he shall not inhe- 
rit them out of the world ; for I gave them unto another, 
saith the Lord. 

16. I am the Lord thy God, and I gave unto thee, my 
servant Joseph, an appointment, and restore all things ; ask 
what ye will, and it shall be given unto you, according to 
my word ; and as ye have asked concerning adultery, verily, 
verily I say unto you, if a man receiveth a wife in the new 
and everlasting covenant, and if she be with another man, 
and I have not appointed unto her by the holy anointing, 
she hath committed adultery, and shall be destroyed. If 
she be not in the new and everlasting covenant, and she be 
with another man, she has committed adultery ; and if her 
husband be with another woman, and he was under a 
vow, he hath broken his vow, and hath committed adultery; 
and if she hath not committed adultery, but is innocent, 
and hath not broken her vow, and she knoweth it, and I 
reveal it unto you, my servant Joseph, then shall you have 
power, by the power of my Holy Priesthood, to take her, 
and give her unto him that hath not committed adultery, 



APPENDIX. 



213 



but hath been faithful, for he shall be made ruler over 
many ; for I have conferred upon you the keys and power 
of the priesthood, wherein I restore all things, and make 
known unto you all things, in due time. 

17. And verily, verily I say unto you, that whatsoever 
you seal on earth shall be sealed in heaven ; and whatso- 
ever you bind on earth, in my name, and by my word, saith 
the Lord, it shall be eternally bound in the heavens ; and 
whosesoever sins you remit on earth shall be remitted eter- 
nally in the heavens ; and whosesoever sins you retain on 
earth shall be retained in heaven. 

18. And again, verily I say, whomsoever you bless I 
will bless ; and whomsoever you curse I will curse, saith 
the Lord; for I, the Lord, am thy God. 

19. And again, verily I say unto you, my servant Joseph, 
that whatsoever you give on earth, and to whomsoever 
you give any one on earth, by my word, and according to 
my law, it shall be visited with blessings, and not cursings, 
and with my power, saith the Lord, and shall be without 
condemnation on earth, and in heaven ; for I am the Lord 
thy God, and will be with thee even unto the end of the 
world, and through all eternity : for verily I seal upon you 
your exaltation, and prepare a throne for you in the king- 
dom of my Father, with i\braham, your father. Behold, I 
have seen your sacrifices, and will forgive all your sins ; I 
have seen your sacrifices, in obedience to that which I have 
told you : go, therefore, and I make a way for your escape, 
as I accepted the offering of Abraham, of his son Isaac. 

20. Verily I say unto you, a commandment I give unto 
mine handmaid, Emma Smith, your wife, whom I have 
given unto you, that she stay herself, and partake not of 
that which I commanded you to offer unto her : for I did 
it, saith the Lord, to prove you all, as I did Abraham ; and 
that I might require an offering at your hand, by covenant 
and sacrifice : and let mine handmaid, Emma Smith, re- 
ceive all those that have been given unto my servant Joseph, 
and who are virtuous and pure before me ; and those who 
are not pure, and have said they were pure, shall be de- 
stroyed, saith the Lord God ! for I am the Lord thy God, 
and ye shall obey my voice ; and I give unto my servant 
Toseph, that he shall be made ruler over many things, for he 



214 



APPENDIX. 



hath been faithful over a few things, and from henceforth I 
will strengthen him. 

21. And I command mine handmaid. Emma Smith, to 
abide and cleave unto my servant Joseph, and to none else. 
But if she will not abide this commandment, she shall be 
destroyed, saith the Lord ; for I am the Lord thy God. and 
will destroy her if she abide not in my law ; but if she will 
not abide this commandment, then shall my servant Joseph 
do all things for her. even as he hath said : and I will bless 
him, and multiply him, and give unto him an hundred fold 
in this world, of fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, 
houses and lands, wives and children, and crowns of eternal 
lives in the eternal worlds. And again, verily I say, let 
mine handmaid forgive my servant Joseph his trespasses, 
and then shall she be forgiven her trespasses, wherein she 
has trespassed against me : and I, the Lord thy God. will 
bless her, and multiply her, and make her heart to rejoice. 

22. And again, I say, let not my sen-ant Joseph put his 
property out of his hands, lest an enemy come and destroy 
him, for Satan seeketh to destroy ; for I am the Lord thy 
God, and he is my sen-ant : and behold ! and lo, I am with 
him, as I was with Abraham, thy father, even unto his exal- 
tation and glory, 

23. Now as touching the law of the priesthood, there are 
many things pertaining thereunto. Verily, if a man be 
called of my Father, as was Aaron, by mine own voice, and 
by the voice of him that sent me, and I have endowed him 
with the keys of the. power of this priesthood, if he do any 
thing in my name, and according to my law. and by my 
word, he will not commit sin, and I will justify him. Let 
no one, therefore, set on my servant Joseph : for I will jus- 
tify him; for he shall do the sacrifice which I require at his 
hands, for his transgressions, saith the Lord your God. 

24. And again, as pertaining to the law of the priest- 
hood : If any man espouse a virgin, and desire to espouse 
another, and the first give her consent ; and if he espouse 
the second, and they are virgins, and have vowed to no 
other man, then is he justified; he cannot commit adul- 
tery, for they are given unto him ; for he cannot commit 
adultery with that that belongeth unto him, and to none 
else ; and if he have ten virgins given unto him by this law, 



APPENDIX. 



215 



he cannot commit adultery, for they belong to him ; and 
they are given unto him — therefore is he justified. But if 
one or either of the ten virgins, after she is espoused, shall 
be with another man, she has committed adultery, and 
shall be destroyed; for they are given unto him to multiply 
and replenish the earth, according to my commandment, 
and to fulfil the promise which was given by my Father be- 
fore the foundation of the world ; and for their exaltation in 
the eternal worlds, that they may bear the souls of men ; 
for herein is the work of my Father continued, that He may 
be glorified. 

25. And again, verily, verily I say unto you, if any man 
have a wife who holds the keys of this power, and he 
teaches unto her the law of my priesthood, as pertaining to 
these things ; then shall she believe, and administer unto 
him, or she shall be destroyed, saith the Lord your God ; 
for I will destroy her ; for I will magnify my name upon all 
those who receive and abide in my law. Therefore, it shall 
be lawful in me, if she receive not this law, for him to re- 
ceive all things whatsoever I, the Lord his God, will give 
unto him, because she did not believe and administer unto 
him, according to my word; and she then becomes the 
transgressor, and he is exempt from the law of Sarah, w T ho 
administered unto Abraham according to the law, when I 
commanded Abraham to take Hagar to wife. And now, 
as pertaining to this law : Verily, verily I say unto you, I 
will reveal more unto you, hereafter ; therefore, let this suf- 
fice for the present. Behold, I am Alpha and Omega. 
Amen. 

The three sons of Joseph Smith, who, it should be remem- 
bered, still cling to the original doctrines of Mormonism, 
have for years valiantly combated the charge of Polygamy 
made against the Prophet ; but in the face of so much 
testimony against him, it appears difficult for them to fully 
satisfy themselves that there was not something wrong in 
his ideas of marriage. It must be extremely unpleasant for 
them to make such an avowal, but it would be the easiest 
way of getting out of the difficulty. In collating mattei 



2l6 



APPENDIX. 



for this appendix, I met the following, from the pen of 
Alexander H. Smith, the second son of the Prophet : 

" The stories about that article [the revelation] are so 
numerous, and so conflicting, that I do not believe that he 
ever received a revelation from God on the matter. The 
very fact that so much strong testimony had been pro- 
duced, and did exist, as we have shown from the Book of 
Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants, satisfies me that it 
is folly for any sane man to think that Joseph Smith needed 
to ask God concerning a matter that His will was so 
plainly manifest on as the one in hand. There are those 
who say that the revelation 6 was received over a five-gallon 
keg of whiskey/ There are those who say ' the original 
was burned ; '* but strange to say, they all say ' that it was 
burned,' and all seem to agree that one person burned it. 
It is evident that a supposed copy of the revelation has 
been palmed off upon the people, by a designing set of 
men, who have certainly lost the priesthood they once held, 
and have made money and women their only pleasure, 
that they might gratify to the fullest extent their lustful 
desires and wicked purposes." 

The reader will see from the concluding sentence, which 
is rather more forcible than polite, the opinion which the 
sons of the Prophet entertain for their father's successors. 

Italicizing the word " God " in the above was the work 
of Mr. Smith, and evidently intended by him as a reluctant 
admission that his father had possibly something to do with 
it. The further allusion to the " keg of whiskey" is also a 
partial admission of alleged occasional habits of the Prophet. 
But the revelation to Joseph is too shrewdly worded, and 
looks too much like the results of a battle between him and 
the " Elect Lady" — his wife, Emma, to have owed its 
inspiration to the " keg." Besides this, the subtle way in 
which the priesthood therein entwines its authority around 
the woman, threatening her at one moment with damna- 

* Mrs. Emma Smith is understood to have thrown it into the fire. 



APPENDIX. 



217 



tion, and the next attracting her with promises of glory, 
evinces too much system and calculation for such an origin. 
The true story is the best — Joseph had himself entered into 
practical Polygamy, and a revelation was necessary to 
appease his wife, Emma, and to satisfy his brother, Hyrum, 
who had some " conscientious scruples." 
Mr. Smith, however, continues : 

" Should we admit the truth of this so-called revelation, 
there is not a man on earth, neither has there been since 
the death of the martyr, who holds the keys to administer 
the ordinances of celestial marriage according to the reve- 
lation itself, for it is stated emphatically that ' there is never 
but one on the earth at a time on whom this power and 
the keys of this priesthood are conferred.' So by their own 
witness they are condemned. For Brigham has time and 
again said he was not a 6 prophet nor the son of a prophet/ 
and none but a prophet can hold the keys of this priest- 
hood. I give one more feature of the beautiful document : 

" ' Verily, verily, I say unto you, if a man marry a wife according to 
my word, and they are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise accord- 
ing to mine appointment, and he or she shall commit any sin or 
transgression of the new and everlasting covenant whatever, and all 
manner of blasphemies, and if they commit no murder whereby they 
shed in7ioce?it blood, yet shall they come forth in the first resurrec- 
tion and enter into their exaltation.' 

" Here is licence given to any one who enters this system 
of things to lie, steal, bear false witness, use the name of 
God in vain, blaspheme at will, and do all manner of 
wickedness except the shedding of 6 innocent blood,' and by 
them taught, if a man be a Gentile and unconverted his 
blood is not innocent, he is a sinner, consequently there is 
no crime in killing him ; provided, that you have a wife or 
two sealed to you by the holy celestial knot. This clause 
alone should reveal its origin." 

In conclusion he adds : 

" Now may God save this people from this great plague 
spot that cankers and corrodes the soul, alienates it from God, 
and fits it only for Satan's kingdom." — Polygamy : was it 
an original tenet of the Church ? pp. 7, 8, 9. 



CHOICE EXTRACTS FROM MODERN APOSTLES. 



» • « 

FROM THE FIRST SERMON PREACHED ON POLYGAMY IN THE 
TABERNACLE, SALT LAKE CITY, BY THE APOSTLE ORSON 

pratt, August 29TH, 1852. 

" The Lord ordained marriage between male and female 
as a law through which spirits should come here and enter 
into the second state of existence." * * * " Then is it 
not reasonable and consistent that the Lord should say 
unto His faithful and chosen servants, that had proved 
themselves before Him all the day long; that had been 
ready and willing to do whatsoever His will required them 
to perform — take unto yourselves more wives, like unto the 
patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, of old — like those 
who lived in ancient times, who walked in my footsteps, 
and kept my commands ?" # * # # # " What will 
become of those individuals who have this law taught unto 
them in plainness, if they reject it ? [A voice in the stand, 
6 They will be damned.'] I will tell you : they will be 
damned, saith the Lord God Almighty \" — Journal of 
Discourses ; vol. i. pp. 58, 63, 64. 

" We are created for the express purpose of increase. ,, — 
j. of £>., vol. i. p. 93. 

" Suppose that I had the privilege of having only one 
wife, I should have had only three sons, for those are all 
that my first wife bore ; whereas I now have buried five 
sons, and have thirteen living. It is obvious that I could 
not have been blessed with such a family if I had been 
restricted to one wife ; but by the introduction of this law 
I can be the instrument in preparing tabernacles for those 



APPENDIX. 



219 



spirits which have to come in this dispensation."* — Brig- 
ham Young, J. of D., vol. iii. p. 264. 

a The fleshly body of Jesus required a Mother as well as 
a Father. Therefore the Father and Mother of Jesus, ac- 
cording to the flesh, must have been associated together in 
the capacity of Husband and Wife ; hence the Virgin Mary 
must have been, for the time being, the lawful wife of God 
the Father : we use the term lawful Wife, because it would 
be blasphemous in the highest degree to say that He over- 
shadowed her or begat the Saviour unlawfully. * * It was 
also lawful in Him, after having thus dealt with Mary, to 
give her to Joseph her espoused husband. Whether God 
the Father gave Mary to Joseph for time only, or for time 
and eternity, we are not informed. Inasmuch as God was 
the first Husband to her, it may be that He only gave her 
to be the wife of Joseph while in this mortal state, and that 
he intended after the resurrection to again take her as one 
of His own wives to raise up immortal spirits in- eternity.' 9 

" One thing is certain, that there were several holy wo- 
men that greatly loved Jesus — such as Mary, and Martha 
her sister, and Mary Magdalene. If all the acts of "Jesus 
were written, we, no doubt, should learn that these beloved 
women were his wives." — Orson Pratt, Seer, pp. 158-9. 

" The grand reason of the burst of public sentiment in 
anathemas upon Christ and his disciples, causing His cruci- 
fixion, was evidently based upon Polygamy, according to 
the testimony of the philosophers who rose in that age. A 
belief in the doctrine of a plurality of wives caused the per- 
secution of Jesus and His followers. We might almost 

* It seems never to have occurred to Brigham Young that if all the 
wives whom he had married each had had a husband to herself, the 
spirit immigration of which he speaks so much, and in which he 
professes so deep an interest, would have found ten times more 
facility for earthly existence. His monopoly, therefore, of from fifty 
to a hundred wives, instead of carrying out the purpose of " the 
Lord," has only hindered it. He seems to have thought nothing of 
the women fulfilling the "full measure" of their creation. It has 
been with him all the time only " I." "When I labour in the king- 
dom of God, I labor for my own dear self I have only self constantly 
before me ; the object of my pursuit is to benefit my individual person , 
and this is the case with every person who ever was or ever will be 
exalted." That is exactly Brigham's portrait, drawn by his own 
hand, August 8th, 1870. 



220 



APPENDIX. 



think they were 6 Mormons.' " — Elder Jedediah M. Grant, 
Counsellor to Brigham Young, J. of D. y vol. i. p. 346. 

" Jesus was the bridegroom at the marriage of Cana of 
Galilee." " Now there was actually a marriage ; and if 
Jesus was not the bridegroom on that occasion, please tell 
who was." " We say it was Jesus Christ who was married, 
to be brought into the relation whereby he could \ see his 
seed' before he was crucified." "I shall say here, that be- 
fore the Saviour died, he looked upon his own natural chil- 
dren, as we look upon ours; he saw his seed, and immedi- 
ately after that he was cut off from the earth." — Orson 
Hyde, President of the Apostles, J. of D., vol. ii. pp. 79, 80, 
81, 82. 

" The woman who marries out of this priesthood marries 
for hell."— a H. 

HOW THEY SAID IT WAS. 

" Instead of a plurality of wives being a cause of sorrow 
to females, it is one of the greatest blessings of the last dis- 
pensation ; it gives them the great privilege of being united 
to a righteous man, and of rearing a family aceording to the 
order of heaven ; instead of being compelled to remain single, 
or marry a wicked man who will ruin her and her offspring, 
she can enter a family where peace and salvatio?i reign ; 
where righteousness abounds ; where the head of the family 
stands forth as a patriarch, a prince, and a saviour, to his 
whole household ; where blessings tmspeakable and eternal 
are sealed upon them and their generations after them ; her 
glory is eternal, and her joy is full. Rejoice, then, ye 
daughters of Zion, that you live in this glorious era /" 

HOW IT REALLY WAS. 

Jedediah M. Grant, in the Salt Lake Bowery, September, 
1856, uttered the following: 

" We have women here who like any thing but the Celes- 
tial Law of God, and if they could break asunder the 
cable of the Church of Christ,* there is scarcely a mother in 
Israel but would do it this day. And they talk it to their 
husbands, to their daughters, and to their neighbours, and 
they say they have not seen a week's happiness since they be- 

* Polygamy the cable of the Church of Christ J 



APPENDIX. 



221 



came acquainted with that law, or since their husbands took a 
second wife." 

In a sermon published in the Deseret News, October ist, 
1856, Brigham Young tells the story. 

" Men will say — 6 My wife, though a most excellent 
woman, has not seen a happy day since I took my seco?idwife.' > 
6 No, not a happy day for a year/ says one; and another 
has not seen a happy day for five years.'' 

" I am going to set every woman at liberty, and say to 
them, Now go your way — my women with the rest; go 
your way. And my wives have got to do one of two 
things : either round up their shoulders to endure the afflic- 
tions of this world, and live their religion, or they must 
leave ; for I will not have them about me. I will go into 
heaven alone rather than have them scratching and fighting 
around me. I will set all at liberty. ' What, first wife too ? 1 
Yes, I will liberate you all. I know that there is no cessa- 
tion to the everlasting whinings of many of the women in 
this territory ; I am satisfied that this is the case ; and if the 
women will turn from the commandments of God, and con- 
tinue to despise the order of Heaven, [Polygamy,] / will 
pray that the curse of the Almighty may be close to their heels, 
and that it may be following them all the day long. And 
those that enter into it (the celestial law) and are faithful, I 
will promise them that they shall be queens in heaven and 
rulers to all eternity." 

" Now if any of you will deny the plurality of wives and 
continue to do so, / promise that you will be dam?ied." — 
of D., vol. iii. p. 266. 

This hardly comports with the Apostle Pratt's picture of 
a family, " where peace and salvation reign," and it is not a 
little amusing to read of the promises from his pen of " this 
glorious era," when the women were to " rejoice" because 
of the high honours and privileges conferred upon them ; 
"the glorious prospects" which were opening before them, 
and the " freedom" in the dales of Utah. Polygamy in 
Utah is the martyrdom of civilized, Christian womanhood, 
and the enslavement of every noble instinct in man. 



Will be ready shortly ; profusely illustrated. 



THE MORMON SAINTS. 

THEIR HISTORY FOR FIFTY YEARS, 

WITH 

Their political, social, domestic, and theological relations and influences ; the coloni- 
zation of the Rocky Mountain region ; the development of Utah 
Territory, its great mineral wealth ; 

AND 

THE FACTS OF POLYGAMY 

BY 

T. B. H. STENHOUSE, 

Formerly a,n Elder and Missionary in the Mormon Church, and Editor and 
Proprietor of the Salt Lake Daily Telegraph. 



This work, which is now nearly ready for the press, is the result not only of many 
years' practical experience of Mormonism, but also of long and patient historical re- 
search. The author, from the prominent position which he occupied for twenty-five 
years, enjoyed unusual advantages and the very best of opportunities for obtaining a 
true insight into the inner life and mysteries of "the Saints," such as no observer, 
however acute, if not of that faith, could have commanded. 

Among other noticeable features of this work may be mentioned : 

I. Its Completeness as a History. 

Without being tedious or too minute, it gives in graphic language a perfect resume* 
of Mormon chronology, from the earliest days of Joseph Smith to the present time. 
Nothing that the student or truth-seeker could desire has been omitted, while all 
needless digression is studiously avoided. 

II. Its Impartiality. 
The student of history is only too well aware how very rare it is to find a writer who 
can so far divest his works of self as to make them reliable and without the shadow 
of party or individual bias. In the present work it will be discovered that the author 
entirely negatives himself and all his preconceived views and opinions, and writes 
rather as a looker-on than as one who has himself been so earnestly engaged in the 
contest. 

III. Its Statistical Value. 
As a book of information and reference it is invaluable, not only as regards dates, 
documents, and authorities, but also in respect to the Mining interests of Utah, which 
are treated of exhaustively. 

IV. Its Value as the only true Picture of Mormonism, Past and Pre- 
sent, ever Published. 

It treats of public acts and solemn revelations, of prophets, apostles, and presi- 
dents, of their lives, doctrines, and vaticinations. All are weighed fairly in the balance. 
And above all, that which possibly may have most interest with the general public, is 
its complete exposition of the origin of the doctrine and the practice of polygamy 
in all its bearings, with its baneful effects upon both men and women in Utah at the 
present day. 



H 154 82 >4 



! 




II ♦<t7T' .6* ^ 



